Hawaii Island (Kailapa) Vegetative Fuels Management Collaborative Action Planning Workshop

Thank you to everyone who joined us!

Fire follows fuel. On February 26 at the Hawaii Innovation Center in Hilo, we convened a huge group of 48 people on Hawaii Island representing a patchwork of different agencies, groups, and organizations across a variety of fields to come together to plan for collaborative, large-scale vegetation management to reduce wildfire risks throughout the island. This was part of a series of workshops on Oahu, Kauai, and Hawaii Island we held in February on this matter (we had a similar meeting on Maui in 2018). Big mahalo to the Kailapa community, a nationally recognized Firewise Community on Hawaiian Home Lands in Kawaihae, for hosting us at their beautiful new pavilion.

During the workshop, participants:

• Checked out the results of recent efforts to map current management of hazardous vegetative fuels (thanks to all of the information that partners contributed).

• Identified and discussed shared regional fuels management priorities to mitigate the risks of wildfire across our island landscapes through a facilitated series of small and large group conversations.

Marking values at risk and important areas for risk reduction.

Sharing ideas for next step priority actions.

Voting for priority project ideas.

The knowledge and priorities of the participants will contribute to planning next steps in the ongoing collaboration to manage vegetative fuels to reduce wildfire and protect our communities and natural resources.

We are all in this together and it takes all of us!

Stay tuned via our website, social media, and e-newsletter (sign up at the bottom of this page) for final project-related products before this summer.

Mahalo DOFAW, UH CTAHR Cooperative Extension / Pacific Fire Exchange for co-organizing with us.

Hawaii Island (Hilo) Vegetative Fuels Management Collaborative Action Planning Workshop

Thank you to everyone who joined us!

Fire follows fuel. On February 22 at the Hawaii Innovation Center in Hilo, we convened a large group of 20 people on Hawaii Island representing a patchwork of different agencies, groups, and organizations across a variety of fields to come together to plan for collaborative, large-scale vegetation management to reduce wildfire risks throughout the island. This was part of a series of workshops on Oahu, Kauai, and Hawaii Island we held in February on this matter (we had a similar meeting on Maui in 2018).

During the workshop, participants:

• Checked out the results of recent efforts to map current management of hazardous vegetative fuels (thanks to all of the information that partners contributed).

• Identified and discussed shared regional fuels management priorities to mitigate the risks of wildfire across our island landscapes through a facilitated series of small and large group conversations.

Mayor Harry Kim sharing about the importance of fuels management for public safety.

Marking values at risk and areas for fuels treatments.

Chief Eric Moller pointing out values at risk at PTA.

The knowledge and priorities of the participants will contribute to planning next steps in the ongoing collaboration to manage vegetative fuels to reduce wildfire and protect our communities and natural resources.

We are all in this together and it takes all of us!

Stay tuned via our website, social media, and e-newsletter (sign up at the bottom of this page) for final project-related products before this summer.

Mahalo DOFAW, UH CTAHR Cooperative Extension / Pacific Fire Exchange for co-organizing with us.

Special thank you to Mayor Harry Kim, Chief Moller from US Army-Garrison, FES and Chief Okinaka from Hawaii Fire Department for joining us at the workshop.

Kauai Vegetative Fuels Management Collaborative Action Planning Workshop

Thank you to everyone who joined us!

Fire follows fuel. On February 21 at the War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihue, we convened a large group of 23 people on Kauai representing a patchwork of different agencies, groups, and organizations across a variety of fields to come together to plan for collaborative, large-scale vegetation management to reduce wildfire risks throughout the island. This was part of a series of workshops on Oahu, Kauai, and Hawaii Island we held in February on this matter (we had a similar meeting on Maui in 2018).

During the workshop, participants:

• Checked out the results of recent efforts to map current management of hazardous vegetative fuels (thanks to all of the information that partners contributed).

• Identified and discussed shared regional fuels management priorities to mitigate the risks of wildfire across our island landscapes through a facilitated series of small and large group conversations.

Dr. Clay Trauernicht presenting on fuels management strategies.

Voting for priority project ideas.

Marking values at risk and areas for fuels treatments.

The knowledge and priorities of the participants will contribute to planning next steps in the ongoing collaboration to manage vegetative fuels to reduce wildfire and protect our communities and natural resources.

We are all in this together and it takes all of us!

Stay tuned via our website, social media, and e-newsletter (sign up at the bottom of this page) for final project-related products before this summer.

Mahalo DOFAW, UH CTAHR Cooperative Extension / Pacific Fire Exchange for co-organizing with us.

Special thank you to Chief Kilipaki Vaughan of Kauai Fire Department, Chief Akiyama of Navy PMRF and Councilmembers Kipukai Kualiʻi and Felicia Cowden for joining us and supporting this important work.

Kauai Vegetative Fuels Management Mapping Workshop with KAA

Mapping with KAA members, Navy, and Kauai Fire Department on the west side of Kauai.

As a hub of wildfire protection efforts across the Hawaiian Islands, we are always looking for ways to bring people together to solve some of our most complex wicked problems. The Hawaiian Islands have been struggling with invasive species spread for decades, but now we are seeing what happens when invasive flammable plants take over the landscape and allow fires to spread more quickly and over larger areas. By controlling or managing flammable vegetation at the landscape-level, we can make great strides towards reducing the wildfire risk on our islands.

That’s why HWMO is coordinating a statewide vegetative fuels management mapping project — a rapid assessment to understand the vegetation management needs and priorities of landowners and land managers throughout the Hawaiian Islands. DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife and University of Hawaii CTAHR Cooperative Extension are key partners in the effort.

The vision for the project is that the resulting maps will lead to 1) better prioritization and communication of vegetative fuels management on the landscape-scale and 2) enhance project coordination between organizations and funding opportunities.

On September 26, we partnered with Kekaha Agriculture Association for a workshop to map current and desired vegetation management activities in Kekaha on the west side of Kauai (where most of the island’s most devastating wildfires have occurred). Activities could include any vegetation reduction or conversion projects such as roadside mowing, fuelbreaks, grazing rotations, clearing around structures or power poles, brush abatement or thinning, tree trimming, loi restoration, agriculture, and native forest restoration. Mahalo KAA for hosting the workshop and for participating in this critical project!

Wildfire Readiness Presentation with Rotary Club of West Kauaʻi

HWMO continued its tour to meet various Rotary Clubs across the state this year on Kauaʻi. At the Saddle Room Restaurant in Waimea Canyon, we presented to a group of twelve Rotarians from the Rotary Club of West Kauaʻi on May 23. As a matter of happenstance, there had been a large wildfire in Waimea Canyon a week or so before the presentation, so residents in the area were already on high alert.

May 2017 Waimea Canyon fire aftermath.

We started by hearing stories from various residents who had witnessed the fire (and one who was even a responder from a contracting company that works in the area). We then shared information on how residents could get more involved with HWMO and prepare for peak fire season — information we have been working hard to spread throughout the month of May as part of Wildfire Preparedness Month. Each Rotarian at the meeting took home a Ready Set Go! Guide and Wildfire Lookout! flyer. We thank Rotary Club of West Kauaʻi for the opportunity to speak at their meeting!

CNH Wildland Fire Conference & PFX Field Tour to Kokee

Every two to three years, Hawaii plays host to the California-Nevada-Hawaii Wildland Fire Conference. This year, the Garden Island of Kauai was the host of the conference that attracted fire experts from across the Hawaiian Islands and from California and Nevada. The three-day conference from April 12-15 at the Poipu Sheraton was a great way to share lessons learned from across the Pacific. 

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Elizabeth Pickett, HWMO, shares information on Community Wildfire Protection Plan update for Kauai.

On the first day, Mayor Carvalho kicked off the proceedings with a rousing rendition of the U.S. National Anthem and Hawaii Ponoi. A number of speakers followed, touching on topics ranging from drought predictions (Derek Wroe, NWS) to local knowledge for effective fire management (Clay Trauernicht, University of Hawaii CTAHR) to native ecosystem restoration at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (Rhonda Loh, NPS). Our very own Elizabeth Pickett gave a talk on HWMO's recent statewide CWPP and public education efforts. 

Representatives from the Wildland Fallen Firefighters Foundation gave a very moving talk to share about their amazing work to support firefighters and their families who are either recovering from injury or loss of life. 

The second day of the Conference was a field tour organized by Pacific Fire Exchange's Clay Trauernicht and the newest member of the HWMO/PFX team, Melissa Kunz. Patrick Porter, District Forestry Manager for Kauai Division of Forestry and Wildlife, helped lead the caravan up to Kokee, otherwise known as Waimea Canyon.

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Elizabeth Pickett shares copies of community input from CWPP meetings.

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Field tour attendees soak in the beauty of Waimea Canyon.

A group of a couple dozen conference attendees stopped at various view points and the site of the large 1,000+ acre fire that scorched a eucalyptus forest a few years ago. DOFAW is taking advantage of this post-fire moment to plant rows upon rows of koa trees for sustainable harvest moving into the future. This unique project will give forest managers an idea of the feasibility of post-fire conversion of previously non-native forest into a native forest for the purpose of sustainable harvest. 

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Kauai Division of Forestry and Wildlife plan to have slash piles hauled out for biomass.

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New koa plantings will replace a formerly non-native forest, taking advantage of a large, destructive wildfire that wiped out acres of eucalyptus.

On the final day of the conference, Dan Dennison of DLNR spoke about the media's role in Fire Incident Management and touted the Wildfire & Drought Look Out! campaign set to be released by HWMO and its many statewide partners this month. Each County Fire Department also gave updates. The general message from each one: the number of wildfires this year in Hawaii are set to surpass last year's numbers by a significant margin. 

We want to thank our partners from DOFAW and the CNH Forest Fire Council for letting us share our recent efforts and to thank Pacific Fire Exchange for a great, informative field tour!

Stay tuned for a video of the field tour on our YouTube page!

Kauai School Outreach Tour

Kauai's wildfire uptick in recent months, partially due to drought conditions and a string of arson cases, is cause for concern for the Garden Island. We reached out to various schools across the island to offer our complimentary wildfire student outreach program. 

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Pablo asks students to chime in on how the wildfire hazards on the screen could be eliminated.

The first week of September became an outreach tour of Kauai's schools for HWMO Education & Outreach Coordinator, Pablo Beimler. On September 1st and 2nd, Pablo traveled to Waimea Canyon Middle School and held wildfire lessons in the science classroom of Ms. Yamagata for a total of seven classes. On the following day, September 3rd, Pablo held lessons in the life sciences classroom of Mr. Sasso at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School in Lihue, another great fit for introducing students to a life science they're not normally exposed to: fire ecology. September 4th was a double-header for HWMO: Pablo first held a presentation for over a hundred K-5th graders at Island School in Lihue and then hopped on over to Chiefess for one last classroom lesson, this time with Ms. Thompson's Hawaiiana class. 

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Students become gnarled Wiliwili trees in a series of "ladder fuel" stretches.

For each classroom lesson, Pablo gave an interactive presentation about the basics of fire ecology, Hawaii's unique wildfire issues, how students can help reduce ignitions and protect their homes from wildfire using Firewise landscaping. To keep the students on their toes, Pablo had the students stand up and demonstrate "ladder fuels". Students first touched their toes to be a grass fire, their knees to be a brush fire, and eventually a wild crown fire with their arms waving frantically. For the next round, Pablo told the students that the brush had been removed and the lower branches of the trees eliminated (removal of "ladder fuels"). Students no longer could get from the grass pose to the crown pose. The ladder fuel treatment was a success.

To wrap up each lesson, Pablo had several volunteers participate in the Firewise Plant Game Show. One student would select and carry around a special plant to each student and allow them to "smell, touch, and even cuddle" the plant to get to know it better. Then, three landscaping judges would examine the plants and decide whether the plant should go in a Firewise garden or not. Before they could decide, they had to see what the audience thought by gauging the thumbs in the crowd. After coming up with a consensus decision, the students would show cards with "emoji" faces to determine the fate of the plant.

It was a treat to be able to talk to so many students during a short period of time and we are looking forward to additional opportunities throughout the State. Contact us if you'd like for us to come visit your school!

Mahalo nui loa to all of the teachers, administrators, and students who helped make this outreach tour a success!

Banner photo: Students stand tall like koa trees, which make for good Firewise plants.

Kauai CWPP Update Community Meetings

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Good turnout at the Waimea meeting.

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Councilman Kualii and keiki review input collected to decide which items to prioritize.

HWMO collected agency input exactly a month prior to the first of three community meetings on Kauai to update an outdated CWPP for the island. The three community meetings, held at Kilauea Elementary School, Waimea Canyon Middle School, and Elsie H. Wilcox Elementary School in Lihue, were led by HWMO’s Elizabeth Pickett and Ilene Grossman during the course of three days. Each meeting pulled about a dozen people who added their wildfire concerns, recommended actions, and priority areas of importance to the CWPP update. HWMO also made contact with Anahola Hawaiian Homes community members who wanted to take immediate action to reduce fuels in their neighborhood. HWMO will be following up with them to discuss the Firewise Communities Recognition program.