To inform the public about the need to preserve land on Kaua’i for the public’s benefit, the Kaua’i Public Land Trust has produced video tapes on conferences on conservation it sponsored. The tapes will soon be available at public libraries
To inform the public about the need to preserve land on Kaua’i for the public’s benefit, the Kaua’i Public Land Trust has produced video tapes on conferences on conservation it sponsored.
The tapes will soon be available at public libraries on Kaua’i. They are being offered at a time when some residents have complained about the loss of access to beaches and mountain areas.
Captured on the tapes are a series of conferences of people who presented “fascinating information” about land conservation, said KPLT president Gary Blaich.
KPLT is a Kaua’i-based organization formed in the late 1980s. It’s mission is to preserve lands “for the common good” through acquisition, management and education, the group said.
The production and distribution of the tapes is just one of many projects KPLT has undertaken this year, according to the organization’s annual report.
Recent projects include:
– Use of a $3,400 grant from the Environmental Support Center, based in Washington D.C., that has allowed the KPLT board to conduct “strategic planning sessions.”
The sessions led to a “clear vision, closer working relationships, new energy and our renewed commitment to land preservation on Kaua’i,” the report noted.
The Environmental Support Center, provides grants for conservation and land preservation efforts throughout the nation.
– Plans to hire an executive director, possibly a part-time one, to help further the work of KPLT.
As its top priority of this year, KPLT will hold fundraisers to generate money to cover the salary of the new employee.
Those interested in the project can contact Blaich at 828-1438.
KPLT is a non-profit organization that was formed when board members worked with the nationally known, The Trust for Public Land, based in San Francisco, to add 130 acres of coastline area to the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge in 1988.
JoAnn Yukimura, the former mayor of Kaua’i and currently the vice president on the KPLT board, played a large role in bringing about the land acquisition.
Sen. Daniel Inouye has praised Yukimura and others for their work.
Since forming, KPLT has helped other organizations and residents acquire properties for public use or benefit.
KPLT also helped with the expansion of the Po’ipu Beach County Park and the Limahuli Gardens, operated by the National Tropical Botanical Garden on Kaua’i, on the North Shore in the mid-1990s.
The board members of KPLT are Yukimura, Bill Chase, Judy Drosd, Max Graham, Fred Jager, Marion Penhallow, Barbara Robeson, Gary Smith and Curtis Tom.
The board has one part-time staff person and hopes to hire more employees in the future to carry out the goals of KPLT, Blaich said.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext.225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
