Hanalei taro farmers will have continued use of Hanalei Valley – the state’s largest taro-growing area in Hawaii – for now, says U.S. House Rep. Patsy Mink. Mink said she has asked for assurances from officials with U.S. Fish and
Hanalei taro farmers will have continued use of Hanalei Valley – the state’s largest taro-growing area in Hawaii – for now, says U.S. House Rep. Patsy Mink.
Mink said she has asked for assurances from officials with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Washington D.C. that nine farmers will not be removed from the valley to facilitate improved habitats for endangered Hawaiian wetland birds and a goose.
A decision by the federal agency to close out taro growing would drive the nine farmers out of business. Some of the families have farmed taro in the valley for up to 50 years.
Through a federal lease agreement, the farmers grow taro on 130 acres within the 917-acre wildlife refuge.
Mink, who represents the neighbor islands and rural O’ahu, and Kaua’i County Council Chairman Ron Kouchi and their aides talked with farmers in the valley earlier this month after she read a news account saying the days of the farmers were numbered.
It was reported the federal agency believed a permanent open-pond system would be a better habitat than taro fields for the Hawaiian stilt, the Hawaiian coot, the Hawaiian duck, the Hawaiian Moorhen, all waterbeds, and the Nene, a goose
“The Fish and Wildlife Service never said anything with respect to removing the taro farmers,” Mink said.
Mink said she would send a letter to Secretary of Interior Dale Norton “to ensure that what we are being told is the policy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.”
Mink said she wants documentation that the federal agency has “no preference for creating ponds for birds over allowing farmers to continue growing taro.”
Tom Alexander, manager of the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, has dismissed claims his agency has any plans to close down the taro fields.
Taro cultivation is at all-time high, with 130 acres used by farmers, Alexander said.
Staff Writer Lester Chang be reached at mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 225).
