Table of Contents
Hello folks We haven't sent out a newsletter for quite a while now so there is a lot of catching up to do. In this issue you will find reviews of recent trips, a list of upcoming trips, and a ballot for electing a new HSTP Executive Committee (see insert).
In 2002, HSTP ran 3 service trips: 'Umikoa, Waikamoi, and Kamakou. Additionally, we recently had our first service trip of 2003. There are more details about, and photos from, each trip on following pages. More Important than telling you what has happened is telling you what is coming up and urging you to think about participating in an upcoming trip. In these rather stressful times of Iraq, terrorism, and skyrocketing house prices how about going on a HSTP service trip? What better way to forget the cares of the outside world than by pulling noxious weeds, building a hiking trail, or fencing out evil goats and pigs?
One issue that HSTP has to deal now days has a good side and a bad side. It is becoming more and more common for corporations and community groups to do public service projects. Many times these are as extensive as HSTP trips with respect to the number of people involved and the scope of work taken on. This is obviously a good thing for the environment because all the participants get to see beautiful backcountry sites and because important volunteer work gets accomplished. On the other hand the fact that these corporations and groups are willing to fully fund these trips means that HSTP is less attractive to sponsoring organizations such as National park Service because we rely on those organizations to pay the bulk of the cost of our trips.
Nevertheless our ability to take on difficult work in back country conditions plus our good reputation means that there are still HSTP trips to go on! We have what is shaping up to be a reasonably full summer's worth of great trips so it is not too early to start looking at your calendar. At the moment there are 2 and maybe 3 trips planned for the summer plus a possible trip next December or January:
Upcoming trips (tentative) 1 -' Awehi (Lana'i; weeding, native plant outplanting; second week in August): Thanks to the success of the recent 'Awehi trip (see trip summary below), HSTP has been asked back. Lodgings will be relatively cushy and not at all in the backcountry. For information, contact Jackson Bauer: jbauer@alumni.hpu.edu
2- Waikamoi (Maui; stair-building and trail maintenance; last week in July or first week in August): Na Ala Hele Maui wants us back to do still more work on the Waikamoi trail. This is a trail that HSTP has been working on for a number of years and we can take pride in its good condition and in the fact that Na Ala Hele Maui has continued to have confidence in us to do work here. For information, contact Sherine Boomla: bsherine@yahoo.com
3 -Auwahi (Maui; weeding in one native plant exclosure, outplanting in another; Labor Day weekend): We will be working on a project that HSTP had a large hand in establishing back in January of 2000. The Auwahi exclosure contains a spectacular set of rare Hawaiian dryland plants plus several thousand keiki planted in 2000. Another exclosure has been established and the major work will be another round of rare- plant outplanting. Note that this will be a shorter trip than usual. For information, contact Keoni Fox: foxw001@hawaii.rr.com
4 -Kalaupapa (Moloka'i; painting historical buildings: Labor Day weekend?): This will be another relatively short trip (3-4 days). Kalaupapa is a spectacular and very special place and HSTP has performed a huge variety of ecosystem work there over the past few years and working on the human side of Kalaupapa will be an interesting change. Note that the cost of this trip will be born completely by the participants. For information, contact John Cummings: jcummings@co.honolulu.hi.us
5- Kaloko-Honokohau (Hawai'i; ecosystem restoration and preservation; winter): This is a completely new place for HSTP to work but because of our good reputation we've been asked to help with exotic plant control and native plant outplanting. The details of the work and lodgings are to be deternined. This promises to be hot and dusty on the western coast of Hawai'i, north of Kailua. For information, contact Waimea Williams: waimeaw@aloha.com
6- Pu'u Wa'awa'a (Hawai'i; fence repair; December): This trip has not yet been finalized. Most of the work will include repairing an existing feral-animal-control fence. The crew will be housed in an old ranch building. Funding for this trip has not yet been secured and it may entail crewmembers footing their own costs. For information, contact Janice Marsters: janicem@lava.net
'Umikoa Ranch and Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge Birds, bullocks, and banana poka
'Umikoa Ranch graciously hosted five HSTP volunteers and Kim Uyehara of Ducks Unlimited. Volunteers were afforded the comforts of a spacious Ranch guesthouse that included 3 bedrooms, I living room, electricity, a commercial-style kitchen and hot water!
The purpose of the trip was to assist the Ranch in its proactive efforts aimed at providing habitat for endangered plants and animals by controlling invasive plant species such as waiwi, Myrica faya banana poka, and Jerusalem cherry
The group donned Tyvek suits, nitrile gloves, backpack sprayers and goggles to apply Remedy (herbicide) to waiwi and Myrica faya using the basal bark treatment method. For larger diameter trees, trunks were frilled and girdled with chainsaws or machetes to encourage herbicide uptake and quicker plant death.
'Umikoa Ranch has successfully promoted koa regeneration by scarification (i.e. removal of kikuyu grass to encourage germination of the existing koa seed bank below). What was once pasture four years ago, are now six to eight foot tall koa! However, multiple layers of banana poka vines heavy with fruit had begun to smother the baby koa. We spent over an hour untangling the banana poka and filled the back of a pickup truck and Expedition. It felt good to see the baby koa free!The Hakalau birding trip and greenhouse tour and visit to the David Douglas Monument was a neat side trip and adventure along a rarely traveled portion of Keanakolu Road. The group was also able to view the lava up close and after dark on the first night of the trip.
Waikamoi Still working on the same old trail
This was another in a rather long line of trail-building and maintenance projects along Na Ala Hele's Waikamoi trail, slightly mauka of the Hana highway. Sherine Boomla and her crew restored washed out parts of the trail, which is very popular among tourists. We will be going back to Waikamoi again this summer.
Kamakou Rain, Mud, and never-ending waiwi
Jackson Bauer and Pauline Sato led a group of 12 people to the Nature Conservancy's Kamakou preserve on Moloka'i from August 30 to September 2, 2003. The trip was co-sponsored by HSTP and TNC's Hoa ' Aina program. The work entailed using weed wrenches to yank out waiwi (strawberry guava) up near the Waikolu overlook. It was difficult work in the mud and rain. We had to stick to straight transects and record how many waiwi (in 3 different size categories) were pulled in each 10-meter increment. The crew were well-supported by TNC's Moloka'i staff members Stephanie Lu and Wailana Moses, and got to spend an off day hiking the boardwalk trail to the Pelekunu overlook.
'Awehi Gulch, Lana'i Weed-Free and Full of Memories
During the week of March 23-29, HSTP ran a service trip to Lana'i led by Jackson Bauer and cook Waimea Williams. Through a unique partnership between Castle & Cooke (formerly Lana'i Company) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the volunteer crew of 10 made a huge difference to Lana'i's fragile dryland forest ecosystems and helped encourage the environmental restoration initiative there. The group worked in the 'Awehi exclosure weeding various non-native plants. Most of this was done by hand, pulling up grasses and milkweeds. The more stubborn plants (such as strawberry guava) were uprooted using the weedwrench. The work was not necessarily difficult and allowed everyone to work at their own pace and perform within their own limits. We had planned to work at the Nature Conservancy's Kanepu'u preserve on Friday, but due to heavy rains, that project was canceled and instead became an additional free day.
On the last day of work half the group helped the crew with wood ‘chucking,’ as it was called. The Lana’i crew cut large Myracafaya and Christmas Berry trees with chainsaws. We assisted by clearing away the chunks of wood they had cut and throwing them over the fence, out of the exclosure.
In our off time we took advantage by exploring as much of Lana‘i as we could including swimming at Hulopo‘e bay, a tour of the Lana'ihale summit ridge, and viewing petroglyphs at Shipwreck Beach.
Elections!!
HSTP is run by an elected Executive Committee, which plans trips, recruits participants, keeps our staff up- dated with first aid training, and in general makes sure that our organization stays afloat. The ExComm has 7 members and our bylaws state that every year we replace 3 or 4 of the 7. Elections only determine the 7 people; once elected they decide among themselves who will fill what position. Here are descriptions of the 7 positions and their current officeholders. Asterisks indicate people whose terms have expired:
I. Chairperson (Scott Rowland*) The Chairperson is the official face of HSTP and keeps track of HSTP as a whole, making sure that there is reasonable long-range and pre-trip planning, that HSTP doesn’t go broke, that HSTP gets good exposure to potential groups of trip participants, etc. More specifically, the Chairperson should have an idea of what trips are being considered for the upcoming year, how well leader and crew recruiting are going, whether equipment needs to be purchased for the particular trip, and so on. The Chairperson needs to confer with the Finance person to make sure that HSTP has sufficient funds to pay for whatever trips are being planned. The Chairperson also is called upon to make presentations of HSTP to High School Hikers and other such groups that are the likely source of future trip participants.
2. Vice Chairperson (Janice Marsters) The Vice Chairperson’ s main duty is to help the Chairperson with all the above duties and to take over if the Chairperson is traveling, off getting married, or some other such diversion. In addition the Vice Chairperson is in charge of tasks such as updating files and HSTP documents, many of which date back from pre- computer days !
3. Project Evaluation (Waimea Williams) Project Evaluation’ s main job is to contact potential trip sponsors arrange a schedule of upcoming trips. This involves finding out what the work will entail, how many people can be accommodated, what the sponsor’s budget is, when they are able to host a HSTP trip,’ etc. : Occasionally Project Evaluation is called upon to scout out a potential trip location.
4. Finance (Pauline Sato*) As you might guess, Finance is in charge of keeping track of HSTP’s budget. The Finance person is aided by a Treasurer, who although important, is not a voting member of the HSTP Ex Comm. Specific duties of the Finance person include making sure that HSTP doesn’t schedule too many trips too close together so that we bounce our checks, working with trip leaders and cooks to make sure they have the money they need when they go to buy food, airline tickets, etc., and cashing the trip deposits from participants:
5. Leadership Development (John Cummings III*) Leadership Development works on keeping a good supply of qualified trip staff (leaders, assistant leaders, and cooks). Leadership Development also arranges any training that the staff needs, such as first-aid certification, plant ID courses, or anything else that the steering committee decides is important for leaders to have.
6. PR & Recruitment (Sherine Boomla*) PR & Recruitment is in charge of advertising trips and recruiting participants for trips. This includes making and putting up posters at schools, purchasing ads in newspapers, and working with our web person to keep our website updated. PR & Recruitment is also tasked with presenting HSTP to the community even at times when there are no upcoming trips.
7. Secretary (Adaline Kam) The Secretary’s main job is to take notes at HSTP meetings, get the notes out to the participants, and schedule and facilitate upcoming meetings. S/he also should be able to take charge of mailings that have to go out, such as election ballots and our rather infrequent newsletter .
Here are the current candidates:
Jackson Bauer: Jackson recently graduated from HPU and has been involved in HSTP as a trip participant and leader for the past 4 years. He works for the Hawai'i Film Office and the Hawai'i Nature Center, and recently led a very successful HSTP trip to 'Awehi on Lana'i.
Sherine Boomla: Sherine has been leading HSTP trips for the past 5-6 years and is currently the PR & Recruitment Chairperson. She works for the Honolulu Legal Aid Society and plans to continue leading service trips.
Aarin Correa: Aarin is an employee of the Hawaii Community Foundation's Natural Resources Conservation Program and a freelance writer. She was introduced to HSTP by Pauline Sato, the fireball solely responsible for her pursuit of an environmental education. Aarin considers herself a lifetime student.
John Cummings Ill: John has been leading HSTP trips for more than 10 years and is currently the Leader- ship Development Chairperson. He works for Honolulu City & County Civil Defense and is an expert on Hawaiian language and culture.
Amber O'Reilly: Amber is an environmental educator at the Hawai'i Nature Center. She began her environ- mental career as an intern with the Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i. This is her first year on HSTP .
Scott Rowland: Scott has been involved in HSTP for longer than he likes to think about. Currently he is HSTP chairperson. If re-elected to the HSTP ExCormm he will relinquish that seat to someone else. Pauline Sato: Has volunteered with HSTP for about four years and also has led numerous service trips to the neighbor islands over the past 10 years. She has supported high school and college students through internships and is committed to environmental education. She works for The Nature Conservancy.
Please vote for no more than 4 of the following candidates. Return your ballot (by July 31, 2003) to: HSTP 2003 Elections, Sierra Club Hawai'i Chapter, P .0. Box 2577, Honolulu, Hawai'i 96803
HSTP Excomm Ballot, 2003 Jackson Bauer
Sherine Boomla
Aarin Correa
John Cummings III
Amber O'Reilly
Scott Rowland
Pauline Sato
This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page
