Prevent Wildfires to Protect Our Ocean (VIDEO)

In 2016, Maui had its worst wildfire season in many years. With barely any vegetation left in the burned areas to hold down silty soils, a mid-September storm rained down on the burned lands and carried trash and debris through our watersheds and out into the ocean. This video tells the story post-fire flooding and its impacts on our communities, lands, and waters. 

Footage of post-fire flooding was filmed in West Maui on the days following the September 13th storm. 

Share this video with your friends, 'ohana, coworkers and everyone else you know who cares about our oceans.

And remember to share the message: 
PREVENT WILDFIRES TO PROTECT OUR OCEAN

Credits:
Pablo Beimler - Producer, Writer, Videographer, Editor, Narrator
Elizabeth Pickett - Writer
Gordon Firestein - Launiupoko Videos
Doris Lang - Launiupoko Videos
Seri Niimi-Burch - Airport Fire Video

Music by Bensound.com - "Piano Moment"

This video was made possible through the support provided by U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region, under the terms of Grant No. 16-DG-11052012-146. The opinions expressed in this video are those of the author(s) and does not necessarily reflect views of the U.S. Forest Service. USDA is an equal opportunity provider. 

Stakeholder Needs Word Clouds Poster

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Click to expand poster.

To better understand the needs of our stakeholders across the State, we are always looking at new, innovative ways to visualize what's important to people.

For the 2015 Nahelehele Dry Forest Symposium, HWMO created a poster for the poster session that we shared with a number of individuals involved in conservation work across the State and the Pacific. 

The poster board, designed by Pablo Beimler (Education & Outreach Coordinator) and written by Pablo, Elizabeth Pickett (Executive Director), and Ilene Grossman (Planning Assistant), emphasizes the importance of collecting agency and community input before moving forward on wildfire mitigation projects. 

Here's an abstract from the poster board:

"Addressing the wildfire issues that persist on the Hawaiian Islands requires collaboration and communication among diverse parties due to the cross-field, cross-jurisdictional nature of wildfires. For years, Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization has been a model for thoroughly engaging its partners and community members in each step of the collaboration process. One of the key reasons HWMO’s projects have been relevant and successful is that the organization only moves forward on projects that are directly driven by stakeholder’s needs. HWMO makes every effort to collect input from land managers, planners, County/State/Federal agencies, local communities, and any other parties affected by wildfire in order to truly understand what is needed on-the-ground. Our display visually highlights the plethora of input we have gathered from the past couple of years, primarily through the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) process."