Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 6, 1 June 2009 — Watershed allianee wins national recognition [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Watershed allianee wins national recognition

By ūawn Farm-Ramsey Special ta Ka Wai Ola Responsible stewardship and resource management on Hawai'i Island by Kamehameha Schools and eight other piivate, state and federal community eollaborators resulted in nahonal recognition from the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C., on May 7. The Three Mountain Watershed Alhanee, or TMA, received the Partners in Conservation Award from the Secretary of the Interior. Tlie award is one of the liighest eonferred by the Interior Department in recognition of conservation achievements. Of the participating organizations of the TMA, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said: "Their achievements exemphfy excellence in conservation. . . . They are an inspiration to us

all, and we are grateful to their efforts. They share a deep coinmitment to eonservation and community." TMA coordinator Tanya Rubenstein said: "As the largest private landowner in the alhanee, Kamehameha Schools' commitment to this collaboration has been instrumental to its success. KS lands provide an important hnk between native Hawaiian ecosystems on adjoining federal and state lands. "KS has played a leadership role in the development and expansion of the collaboration as well as being innovative and responsible stewards of their lands. I don'tbeheve the general eommunity is aware of the key contribution made through the use of Kamehameha Schools' lands towards ensuring reliable water and protected natural environments for the community." Begun in 1994 under another name,

and one of the first watershed-protec-tion consortiums of its kind in the state, the TMA now ranges over one million acres. Ahnost 238,000 acres of KS conservation- and agriculturezoned lands are included in the management area in West Hawai'i, Ka'ū and Puna. KS and eaeh of the alli-

anee members retain ownership and control over their respective lands and resources. In addition to the Three Mountain Allianee, Kamehameha Schools is a member of six of Hawai'i's nine watershed collaborations on the islands of Hawai'i, Maui, Moloka'i, O'ahu and Kaua'i. Among other contributions, KS support of alhanee initiatives includes redirecting its 30,000-acre Keauhou Ranch from cattle operations to other uses that focus on a combination of education, culture, conservation and sustainable eeonomie initiatives.

KS ecologist Nāmaka Whitehead is committed to revitalizing and protecting native forests. "Our wellbeing as a people is connected to and dependent upon healthy, forested ecosystems," she said. "If the heahh of our native forests degrades, if the forests cease to be, we will no longer

be the same people." This belief is echoed in a key allianee principle: "The three mountains of Kīlauea, Mauna Loa and Hualālai are ancient, sacred to Hawaiians and critically hnportant to the life, heahh and well-being of the native ecosystems and human communities that inhabit them." Said Rubenstein, "Members of the Three Mountain Allianee agree that threats to the watershed occur across eonimon land ownership boundaries and effective management is best achieved through the coordinated actions of all major landowners in

the TMA area." A unique aspect to the allianee success is the involvement of the state's Kūlani Correctional Facility and its inmates whose work on eonservation projects includes native forest restoration and the installation of protective fencing. Concurrent with their work, inmates have also engaged in educational opportunities focused on Hawaiian culture and on native species protection and recovery. In addition to Kamehameha Schools, TMA members include: The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and Department of Public Safety. Federal collaborators are: the National Park Service (Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park), Fish and Wildlife Service, Geologieal Survey Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center, Department of Agriculture Forest Service, and Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service. ■

Dawn Farm-Ramsey is the integrated strategi.es manager ofKamehameha Schools Land Assets Division, Community Relations and Communications Group.

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"lf the health of our native forests degrades, ifthe forests cease to be, we will no longer be the same people. " - Kamehameha Schools ecologist Nāmaka Whitehead

Kamehameha Schools' Land Assets Division staff members - ecologist Nōmaka Whitehead and Hawai'i lsland land manager Kamakani ūaneil, at center facing the eamem - review the map of watershed lands presented by Three Mountain Allianee coordinator Tanya Rubenstein. - Phofo: Courtesy of Erika vonAllmen