Private landowners, including Grove Farm Company, Inc., will be eligible for more than $350,000 in federal grant funds to protect habitats of endangered plants and animals, federal officials announced Thursday. The grants will be used to build fences at the
Private landowners, including Grove Farm Company, Inc., will be eligible for more than $350,000 in federal grant funds to protect habitats of endangered plants and animals, federal officials announced Thursday.
The grants will be used to build fences at the Limahuli Upper Valley Preserve on Kaua‘i’s North Shore, to protect rare plants against pigs, and to protect an endangered cave spider and cave amphipod in the Makauwahi Sinkhole in South Kaua‘i.
In addition, Kaua‘i leaders will be eligible to receive a portion of a $189,250 grant to restore koa, ‘ohi‘a and riparian habitats for the protection of existing threatened and endangered species, and those that could be listed for federal protection later.
All of the nearly $190,000 is to be used for three projects on Kaua‘i and the Big Island.
All funds earmarked for Kaua‘i are part of $1.1 million that will used for 12 projects in Hawai‘i.
The Hawai‘i funding is offered through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Private Stewardship Grants program, and is part of a $7-million grant from that program that is to be disbursed nationwide.
The availability of the $7 million in grants was recently announced by Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton.
On Kaua‘i, $336,000 will be used to construct 4.5 miles of fencing along the upper perimeter boundary of 400 acres of Lumaha‘i Valley, federal officials said. As part of the plan, wild pigs are to be removed from the fenced-in areas.
Federal officials said the area is biologically rich in native and Hawaiian lowland and wet forest flora, and an area home to 10 federally listed species.
The fence will help keep foraging pigs from destroying or disturbing “considerable” restoration efforts that have already occurred in Lumaha‘i Valley, government officials said. Leaders with the National Tropical Botanical Garden applied for the funds.
Another $18,810 is to be used to install a locking gate at a cave entrance located at the southern end of the Makauwahi Sinkhole in South Kaua‘i, officials said.
The intent is to protect the underground habit of the endangered Kaua‘i cave wolf spider and Kaua‘i cave amphipod that are found together in the Koloa area, government officials said. Grove Farm officials had applied for the grant funds.
The protection measure is needed to help with the recovery of the two species.
In addition, portions of $189,250 in program grants that are to come to Kaua‘i will be applied to areas on Kaua‘i and on the Big Island that total no more than 150 acres, officials said.
Leaders with Fujitory Hawaii, Inc. DBA Umikoa Ranch, applied for the projects on the Big Island and Kaua‘i, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials.
Grant recipients could put up at least 10 percent of the total cost of a project either in “non-federal dollars or in in-kind contributions,” government officials said.
The announcement of the availability of the $7 million in grant funds came after President Bush signed an executive order instructing federal agencies to work with representatives from state agencies, tribes, communities, conservation groups, private landowners and other partners who would be involved in conservation projects, government officials said.
“President Bush believes the most effective action we can take to conserve wildlife and its habitat is to empower the people who live and work on the land,” said David Allen, regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
As a result of the executive order, Bush has made working in voluntary partnerships with government agencies and other entities “the gold standard for our conservation efforts,” Norton said.
U.S. Rep. Ed Case, D-rural O‘ahu-Neighbor Islands, who represents 600,000 constituents statewide, said the $1.1 million to Hawai‘i will provide a “much-needed boost to public-private partnerships involving 11 private landowners on the Big Island, Maui and Kaua‘i.”
Private landowners who receive the funds are “involved in a wide range of worthy conservation projects that preserve and enhance native forests and protect native birds such as the nene, elepaio, io and koloa,” Case said.
Lester Chang, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.
2004 Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau Fair Various results
Orchids – Best in Show
Milt. Neifert’s Gem – Hanalei Orchids
Largest Zucchini Winners
1. Itsuo Sakata 27.78 pounds
2. K. Kanekuni 18.19 pounds
3. Moribe Farm 14.38 pounds
Produce High Point Winners
1. Moribe Farm – 213 points
2. Linda Yoshii – 149 points
3. George Mukai – 125 points
4. Kaua‘i Kunana Dairy – 102 points
5. Priscilla Andres – 88 points
Fruits – Best in Show
Mango “Keitt” – Arakaki Farm
Vegetables – Best in Show
Bittermelon – Itsuo Sakata, Kalaheo
Anthurium – Best in Show
White “Rudolf” – Kimiyo Fujimoto
Baking – Best in Show
Lemon Meringue Pie – Kiyoko Murashige
