Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 8, 1 August 2007 — Celebrating Wao Kele [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Celebrating Wao Kele

By Crystal Kua Directur uf Cummunicatiūns More than a year after the Office of Hawaiian Affairs acquired title to Wao Kele o Puna rainforest on Hawai'i Island, OHA, The Trust for Puhlie Land and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources is celebrating the rededication of the 25,856acre rainforest this month. "I think it's going to be chicken-skin," said Lea Hong, The Trust for Puhlie Land's Hawaiian Islands program director, of the planned ceremony at the site. "I think (the dedication) is going to signify a new beginning for this forest." Wao Kele o Puna is the last intact large native lowland rainforest in the state, where for centuries Native Hawaiians have gone to carry out traditional

hunting, gathering and religious practices. OHA's acquisition of the densely forested property marks the first time that ceded lands have been returned to an organization representing the Hawaiian people. This month's ceremony is seen as the start of mending the wounds of a tumultuous history for the rainforest, where reminders of geothermal drilling still exist. "This event marking OHA taking title of the lands is an important part of the healing," said Ionathan Likeke Scheuer, director of OHA's Land Management Hale. "We see this as part of the work to be done." As part of a land swap with the state in 1986, the Estate of Iames Campbell acquired the property with plans to develop geothermal energy, whieh uses steam from wells drilled

into volcanoes to generate electricity. Environmentalists and Native Hawaiians protested against the geothermal drilling in the native 'ōhi'a forest, demonstrations that resulted in dozens of arrests. The Pele Defense Fund, a group of Native Hawaiians working to protect the forest, also filed a lawsuit to stop the drilling. In 1994, True Geothermal Venture announced that it was halting geothermal drilling, and Campbell Estate put the property up for sale in 2001. Eventually, the Pele Defense Fund sought the assistance of The Trust for Puhlie Land, a national land conservation organization, to acquire the land. Most of the $3.65 million purchase price was covered by $3.35 million in federal Forest Legacy Program funding, with OHA paying the remainder and gaining formal title to the land. Under the terms of the

agreement, OHA and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources will initially manage the forest in partnership, along with neighboring communities. "We took a stand for this land two decades ago in the courts, and have never given up the fight to find a permanent way to protect this forest,"

Pele Defense Fund President Palikapu Dedman said when the deal was first announced. "We are looking forward to working with OHA and DLNR to keep this forest healthy and thriving — it is our responsibility as mueh as it is our right to mālama this plaee that means so mueh to our community." S

MĀLAMA 'ĀINA • CARING FDR ĪHE LANŪ

Longtime Wūo Kele activist Palikapu Dedman shares his love for the forest with OHA Land Management Hale Director Jonathan Scheuer. - Photo: Derek Fem