Hawaiian Islands

Hawaii’s Legacy Land Conservation Program helping secure 752 acres

The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Legacy Land Conservation Program is giving part of the money that will be used to purchase more than 750 acres of land deemed to have significant natural resources.

The Legacy Land Conservation Program will give $3.3 million to acquire lands that are valued for archeological, cultural and natural resources. Each dollar from the state will be matched with $3 in federal, private and county funds for a total of another $9.5 million, according to a statement from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

The approximately 752 acres of land include areas on Oahu, Kauai, Molokai and the Big Island.

Established in 2005, the Legacy Land Conservation Program provides grants to local agencies and organizations that purchase and protect lands that contain valuable resources.

Source: PBN

Kau, Hawaii

Kau is the southernmost district on the island of Hawai?i.

It includes the areas of South Point (Ka Lae), Hawaiian Ocean View Estates (HOVE), Hawaiian Ocean View Ranchos (HOVR), now together known as Ocean View, Ninole, Naalehu and Pahala.

The district contains much of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, including the volcanoes K?lauea and Mauna Loa, and Punaluu Black Sand Beach. To the East of Kau is the Puna District, and to the West is the South Kona District.

Sugar cane was a large crop until 1996. Now coffee is growing in importance, with the Kau Coffee Festival held in Pahala.

Puna, Hawaii

Puna is one of the 9 districts on the Island of Hawai?i (Big Island) (County of Hawai?i). It is located on the windward side (eastside) of the island and shares borders with South Hilo district in the north and Ka?? district in the west. With its size of almost 320,000 acres (1,300 km2), Puna is almost as big as the island of O?ahu.

The affordable housing prices have led to an enormous increase in developments in Puna, and have made this district the fastest growing area on the Big Island. In the last 20 years the population has grown by nearly 20,000 people and it is estimated that Puna will have a higher population than Hilo by 2020. However, between 2002 and 2006 the price of houses more than doubled and the price of vacant land increased over fivefold, as increasing numbers of people from outside the district (often from the mainland U.S.) bought into the last affordable market in the state.

Homeowners Insurance can be more difficult to secure in the parts of Puna that are located in Lava Flow Hazard Zones 1 or 2. The entire K?lauea rift zone region is in Zone 1, while the southeastern slope is in Zone 2. Most home insurance companies will not cover homes in Zone 1 or 2 for values over $350,000. Most of the volcanic destruction of private property in Hawai?i since the 20th century has occurred in lower Puna, including the destruction of sections of Kapoho, Royal Gardens, Kalapana and Kaim?. Approximately 50 square miles out of the 500 square miles of Puna have been covered by lava flows, and about 190 structures have been destroyed because of the flows since 1983. Living in Puna has other some unique considerations. For example, most homes in Puna rely on rainwater catchment for their household water. This lack of water availability for firefighting is also an issue with insurance companies.

The climate could be called mild tropical climate with an abundance of rain, especially in the northern parts and areas of higher elevation. The terrain is characterized by gentle slopes with no defined waterways. Although rainfall is occasionally very heavy (one storm in 2003 brought 36 inches (90 cm) of rain in 24 hours), flooding is rare due to the slope and porosity of the volcanic rock. The vegetation ranges from rainforest to desert shrub and coastal strand. Large areas of native forest are present in the Wao Kele o Puna and Kahauala tracts.

Besides visiting the active K?lauea volcano and the currently active vents of its southeastern rift zone, one of the most interesting sites of the Puna district is the heated tide pools, in which ocean water is naturally heated through geothermal energy. The first geothermal well in Hawai?i tapping volcanic steam for energy was drilled in 1976 in the Puna district.

Hilo, Hawaii

Hilo is a coastal town in the State of Hawai?i. It is the largest settlement on the island of Hawai?i, and the second largest settlement in the state. The population was 40,759 at the 2000 census.

Hilo is the county seat of Hawai?i County, Hawai?i, and is situated in the South Hilo District. The town overlooks Hilo Bay, and is near two shield volcanoes, Mauna Loa, considered active, and Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano upon which some of the best ground-based astronomical observatories are placed.

Hilo is home to the University of Hawai?i at Hilo, as well as the Merrie Monarch Festival, a week-long celebration of ancient and modern hula, which takes place annually after Easter. It is also home to the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation, one of the world’s leading producers of macadamia nuts. It is served by Hilo International Airport, inside the CDP.

Hamakua, Hawaii

Hamakua is a district on Northeast coast of the Big Island of Hawai‘i and is approximately fifty miles long ending at Waipi‘o Valley. Hamakua is used loosely to describe the region between Hilo and Waipio, although the Hamakua judicial district begins somewhere North of Laupahoehoe. Hamakua translates to “breath of god.”

Many little towns sprang up around sugar plantations which were operating along the Hamakua Coast from around the turn of the twentieth century until approximately 1990, notably Honoka‘a (the largest).

The Hamakua district was an endemic region of bubonic plague in the early part of the 20th century. From 1910 to 1949, there were 112 confirmed cases of the dreaded disease, of which 109 were fatal. The Board of Health of the Territory of Hawaii, in combined efforts with the local sugar plantations, engaged in a vast rat extermination campaign. Despite these efforts, plague remained an enzootic disease in the region up until 1957. It is unclear as to exactly why plague eventually left the area. [1][2]

Driving the Hamakua Coast from Hilo to Kohala is a very scenic excursion along a winding highway, and can be completed in about two hours. Laupahoehoe lies midway and is a beautiful park area that can be reached by following a side road leading to it. Camping is available at Laupahoehoe point.

While virtually all of the pre-existing native forest below altitudes of several thousand feet was removed by sugar cane cultivation, several remnants of native forest can be found. One of these is at Kalopa State Park, which has preserved a small stand of native trees and their understory compatriots.[3] The Park may be found by following signs several miles south of Honoka?a, then driving several miles up the slope of Mauna Kea following the signs. Trails here are poorly maintained, but a number of rare plants can be found in the arboretum area, including the endangered lo?ulu palm, as well as a number of rare native hibiscus. Kalopa State Park also allows camping, but visitors should be aware that given the altitude, damp and chilly weather is the norm.

Kohala, Hawaii

Kohala is the name of two districts — North Kohala and South Kohala — on the northwest portion of the island of Hawai?i in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Both the northern and southern portions of the district that lines the western shore is commonly known as the Kohala Coast, homes to the area’s premier golf courses and seaside resorts.

Locals commonly use the name singularly when referring to the area surrounding the towns of H?w? and Kapa?au.

King Kamehameha I, the first King of the unified Hawai?ian Islands, was born in North Kohala near H?w?. The original Kamehameha Statue stands in front of the community centre in Kapa?au, and duplicates are found at Ali?iolani Hale in Honolulu, and in the US Capitol in Washington, D.C.

The natural habitats in Kohala range across a wide rainfall gradient in a very short distance – from less than 5 inches (130 mm) a year on the coast near Kawaihae to more than 150 inches (3,800 mm) year near the summit of Kohala Mountain, a distance of just 11 miles (18 km). Near the coast are remnants of dry forests, and near the summit is a cloud forest, a type of rainforest that obtains some of its moisture from “cloud drip” in addition to precipitation.

The districts are named after the Kohala Mountain, the oldest of Hawai?i Island’s five volcanic mountains.

Kona District, Hawaii

Kona is the name of a moku or district on the Big Island of Hawai?i in the State of Hawaii. In the current system of administration of Hawaii County, the moku of Kona is divided into North Kona District (Kona ‘Akau) and South Kona District (Kona Hema). The term “Kona” is sometimes used to refer to its largest town, Kailua-Kona. Other towns in Kona include Kealakekua, Keauhou, Holualoa, H?naunau and Honalo.

In the Hawaiian language, kona means leeward or dry side of the island, as opposed to ko‘olau which means windward or the wet side of the island. In the times of Ancient Hawai?i, Kona was the name of the leeward district on each major island. In Hawai‘i, the Pacific anticyclone provides moist prevailing northeasterly winds to the Hawaiian islands, resulting in rain when the winds contact the windward landmass of the islands – the winds subsequently lose their moisture and travel on to the leeward (or kona) side of the island. When this pattern reverses, it can produce a Kona storm from the West. Kona has cognates with the same meaning in other Polynesian languages. In Tongan, the equivalent cognate would be tonga; for windward, the associated cognate would be tokelau.

Kona is the home of the world-famous Ironman World Championship Triathlon which is held each year in October in Kailua-Kona. The Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park marks the place where Captain James Cook was killed in 1779. Pu?uhonua o H?naunau National Historical Park and Honokohau Settlement and Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park are in Kona.

The volcanic slopes of Hual?lai and Mauna Loa in the Kona district provide an ideal microclimate for growing coffee. Kona coffee is considered one of the premium specialty coffees of the world.