HWMO Blog — Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization

post-fire

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Kahikinui Fire 2016 Post-Burn Site Visit with LHWRP

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20 miles, or 40 minutes, of driving distance from the nearest fire station requires a different kind of thinking when it comes to wildfire preparedness. That is exactly what Kahikinui residents on Maui constantly have in mind given they are in a very fire prone and hazardous region. Just within the past decade or so, the community has experienced 5 major wildfires, most recently in February of this year. The recent wildfire burned right to the edge of homes, scalding 5,300 acres in its path. A month later, a flareup of the fire led firefighting efforts up into the difficult-to-access mauka forests. Road access, given the topography and limited infrastructure in Kahikinui, made for a challenging firefight. 

Getting ready for a bumpy ride through the scorched landscape.

Clay Trauernicht of UH CTAHR Cooperative Extension/PFX (middle) ground-truths wildfire intensity maps.

On June 29th, Leeward Haleakala Watershed Restoration Partnership invited Pablo Beimler (HWMO), Melissa Kunz (HWMO/PFX), and Clay Trauernicht (UH Coop Extension, CTAHR) on a site visit of the recent burn. LHWRP’s Andrea Buckman and Keahi Bustamante, who have worked together in the area for numerous years, led everyone on a bumpy ride through the burned areas. What they saw was a scorched landscape from makai to up mauka that included torched fencelines, warped water tanks, toasted PVC irrigation lines, and scalded wiliwili trees. There are hundreds more wiliwili and other native plants in this biodiverse stretch of leeward Maui that the Leeward Haleakala Watershed Partnership and Kahikinui residents and businesses are working together to protect. 

Fenceposts, water tanks, and wiliwili trees among other infrastructure and native plants were scorched by the wildfire.

Even ferns within the wetter mauka gulches were burnt to a crisp.

The site visit was mostly a sneak preview for a late-July field tour PFX will host, inviting various agency and community stakeholders to join. Pablo was also able to collect initial information for the hazard assessment that HWMO will put together for Kahikinui community in their pursuit of becoming a Firewise Community this year. 

We met with community members after the tour and were humbled by the stories they had to share. Since the early '90s, the Hawaiian families that reclaimed DHHL land are working to revive their ancestral lands and live off the grid even in the face of the 5 major fires in the past decade or so. Their grit, perseverance, sense of community, and love for the aina will all be assets as they work to achieve Firewise Certification. Facing the challenges with wildfires in Kahikinui will require uniting all stakeholders, from neighboring ranches to fire agencies to the watershed partnership, for the common goal of creating a Fire Adapted Community.

Kahikinui Post-Fire Site Visit with LHWRP 6/29/16

Wildfire & Drought Look Out! Campaign Launch

With drought predicted to persist through the summer, an increase in wildfires is more than likely to follow. That’s way HWMO has teamed with a large list of government and non-government organizations across the state to launch the Wildfire & Drought Look Out! campaign, the first coordinated statewide wildfire outreach campaign in Hawaii’s history.

Pablo Beimler and Elizabeth Pickett flew to Oahu to join a press conference on May 13th to signify the official release of the campaign. Derek Wroe, NOAA National Weather Service, Rob Hauff, Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Captain David Jenkins, Honolulu Fire Department, and no other than Elizabeth Pickett spoke to a group of media from KHON, KITV4, HPR, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, and others. In the backdrop was the recently charred area right above homes in Nanakuli. 

Following the press conference, the media drove up to some of the homes along the fire’s edge with Honolulu Fire Department, HWMO, and other representatives. Captain Jenkins led the media around a couple of the homes to showcase the importance of creating defensible space far in advance of a wildfire.

Elizabeth Pickett (HWMO) speaks to media with Oahu firefighters standing behind her. In the background: the charred landscape of Nanakuli from the recent fire.

News reporters and Honolulu Fire Department talk with residents who experienced the fire first-hand and created defensible space far in advance of the fire.

For years, HWMO has made it a goal to have a statewide wildfire outreach campaign become a reality. We are excited to say that this goal become reality and will continue to grow moving forward. HWMO is being embraced as the hub of wildfire info for the state and all of our agency colleagues and fire suppression folks. “We started at Pu'u Wa'awa'a and Waikoloa and worked our way to assisting additional regions and islands with the vision of being useful and utilized in big ways at the state level, and this signifies exciting progress toward that,” says Elizabeth Pickett. 

Wildfire & Drought Look Out! Campaign Launch 5/13/16

The campaign is hosted on our website here: 

 

Special thanks to Dan Dennison for stepping up as an incredible coordinator of these efforts (and producing the above video) and of course to all of our partners involved in this momentous effort!

Tune in to our News Center for links on the press conference on the 13th and any new updates regarding Wildfire & Drought Look Out!

 

 

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CNH Wildland Fire Conference & PFX Field Tour to Kokee

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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. 

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.

Elizabeth Pickett shares copies of community input from CWPP meetings.

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. 

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

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!

CNH Wildland Fire Conference 2016 and PFX Field Tour to Kokee
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Wildland-Urban Interface Conference and RSG Award Ceremony 2016

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Every year, the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) holds the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Conference at the Peppermill Resort in Reno, Nevada. 

The conference was a great space for sharing lessons learned with people from all over the world.

Pablo Beimler, HWMO's Community Outreach Coordinator, ventured out to Reno for the week of March 6th, to attend the conference. Hundreds of people from various U.S. states and countries, representing every level of private and public sectors joined together for the exciting and valuable event. 

For the first two days of the conference, Mr. Beimler attended the Hazard Ignition Zone Training hosted by NFPA and taught by long-time HIZ expert Pat Durland. The training gave an in-depth look at how fire interacts with landscapes and structures at the individual home level. A number of great discussions emerged during the training that gave fresh new ways to look at fire issues around the home. Trainees worked in groups towards the end of the training to conduct mock home assessments, sharing lessons learned from back home.

During the rest of the conference, which occurred on March 8th through March 10th, Mr. Beimler networked with a number of people to discuss lessons learned and to promote HWMO's work. Most notably, Mr. Beimler worked with Crystal Beckman, a Fire Information and Education specialist from Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation, to build on a working group they had helped start at the 2015 event. They were able to pull in a number of other outreach specialists from around the states to create a group that would continue to share resources throughout the year and into the future. 

Pablo Beimler shares HWMO's Ready Set Go! Leadership Award with Hawaii FD's (from left to right) Chief Gantry Andrade, Chief Darren Rosario, Captain Bill Bergin, and BC Jerry Lum.

Pablo Beimler (left) representing HWMO poses with other winners of the RSG! Awards: Aubrey FD, Flower Mound FD, and Austin FD.

The highlight of the conference for HWMO was the Fire Adapted Communities Reception and Ready, Set, Go! Award Ceremony on the eve of March 9th. HWMO was a proud recipient of this year's RSG! Leadership Award for Career Departments. Mr. Beimler graciously accepted the award from the IAFC President and shared the honors with Hawaii Fire Department representatives who were in attendance: Chief Darren Rosario, Assistant Chief Gantry Andrade, Captain Bill Bergin, and BC Jerry Lum. We could not be happier to be a recipient of the award and what better way to share it than with our long-time partners who have been so supportive of our RSG! outreach effort

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Puuwaawaa Habitat Conservation Plan Community Meeting

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HWMO teamed with DLNR DOFAW to host an informational booth regarding wildfire history and management in Puuwaawaa.

Puuwaawaa has long been an area of interest for wildfire protection not only for HWMO, but for the state. Over the years, countless wildfires have threatened the native preserves on the mauka and makai stretches of the ahupuaa, prompting numerous efforts to create buffers within and around them. Much time and effort has been spent by DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) and its partnering organizations to restore the native dryland forest throughout Puuwaawaa. 

DOFAW representatives and community members gathered for the input portion of the meeting.

As part of the long-awaited Habitat Conservation Plan that will soon be established, DLNR DOFAW representatives held a community input meeting on March 1st at Auntie Sally's Hale in Hilo (another meeting will be held on March 7th in Kona). HWMO's Pablo Beimler drove to the meeting to hold court during an information session during the first half of the meeting. Pablo shared information regarding fire history in the area and prevention/preparedness tips for residents. DOFAW's Jupiter sat next to Pablo and shared great information on wildfire mitigation efforts that have taken place to protect the native forests of Puuwaawaa. 

To conclude the meeting, comments on the plan were opened up to the public - a great opportunity for community members to share their perspectives and thoughts on how Puuwaawaa should be managed.

Wai 2 Kai Meet-and-Greet

Over the past year or so, HWMO has built a strong partnership with the South Kohala Coastal Partnership and UH Sea Grant in order to address mauka to makai wildfire issues through the Wai 2 Kai program. Last year, HWMO helped provide funding to the program for fuels reduction in two key areas for Waiulaula watershed restoration efforts: Ke Ala Kahawai O Waimea Streamside Trail of Waimea and behind the Waimea Center. We also held a joint-workshop for large landowners and managers interested in wildfire preparedness. Sierra Tobiason, coordinator for these efforts (and HWMO Technical Advisory member) who recently moved away from the islands, was an incredible partner through these efforts and HWMO was sad to see her go.

Ke Ala Kahawai O Waimea Streamside Trail of Waimea, before fuels reduction.

Ke Ala Kahawai O Waimea Streamside Trail of Waimea, after fuels reduction.

New coordinator Lisa Ferentinos gives a presentation about her background in conservation and restoration.

However, those shoes were recently filled by Lisa Ferentinos, who is a great addition to the partnership, with her years of experience coordinating similar efforts. HWMO's Pablo Beimler was able to join Lisa, Didi, and Julia of Wai 2 Kai and partners from Surfrider Foundation, Waimea Nature Park, Waikoloa Dry Forest Initiative, and The Nature Conservancy for a meet-and-greet at the Spencer House in Waimea on January 20th. The future looks very bright for the partnership and HWMO will help in whatever capacity it can to help them achieve wildfire protection goals.

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Mauna Kea Watershed Alliance Huakai

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Koa forests on Mauna Kea make for a mist-erious drive.

Part of what makes a partnership strong is sharing knowledge, especially in person and among place. HWMO had the great opportunity to meet with its partners from Mauna Kea Watershed Alliance (MKWA) for a huakai of one of their preservation areas on the eastern flanks of Mauna Kea. After a bumpy, Indiana Jones-esque ride to the site, Pablo Beimler, representing HWMO toured the site with Jermy Uowolo and Joe Kern of MKWA to discuss the fuels management issues in and around the area and to brainstorm ideas for reducing fuel and creating better suppression access. More importantly, Pablo was able to take in-depth notes with photos that he added to a report that he will share with members of HWMO's Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). The TAC members hold a diverse wealth of knowledge about the area's fire issues and fuels management techniques that would work in the area. 

A pueo keeps a watchful eye on us as we enter the preserve.

The site acts as a bird corridor for some of Hawaii's most precious birds, such as palila and pueo (HWMO's mascot). A few years ago, a wildfire burned through parts of the preserve, including koa and mamane tree plots, so wildfire is a high priority for the MKWA team. MKWA crew are continuing to work to preserve the precious native forests that still exist there and are reinvigorating existing forests and creating new ones by out-planting more trees like koa, mamane, and iliahi. Pablo had the exciting opportunity, at the end of the tour, of putting in some volunteer hours by helping fertilize new koa starts that will act as a barrier from the invasion of gorse. The vigorous shrub has taken over large tracts of land on the mauna and are continuing their march to new areas.Their seeds can stay viable in the ground for 50+ years and when a fire comes around, they re-sprout with ease (their seed pods open after fires and their burnt stumps can generate new sprouts). This is certainly one of the hazards we will discuss with our team of experts.

Endless field of gorse (darker green vegetation).

An area that was burned in the latest wildfire can be seen in the furthest puu where a group of mamane trees were scorched.

Big mahalo to the MKWA crew, including Jermy, Joe, and Cheyenne Perry (who wasn't able to attend but is also an integral member of the HWMO team). We are very fortunate to have such great partners all across the board - it's the only way we can truly take on a challenge as vast and complicated as wildfire. 

A beautiful new koa that we fertilized at the end of the tour. 


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Hawaii Conservation Conference 2015

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Every year, scientists, resource managers, educators, and interested community members from all over the Pacific flock to the Hawaii Conservation Conference (HCC) to learn about what's new in the conservation world and to meet others doing interesting and impactful work to protect Hawaii's precious natural resources.

On August 3rd to the 6th, this year's HCC took place in Hilo primarily on the University of Hawaii campus. Although Hurricane Guillermo threatened to make a pass during the week, that didn't stop event organizers from upholding the event and sure enough, Guillermo only brought much-needed rains and some surf. 

On Tuesday, Pablo Beimler, representing HWMO, gave a talk to a number of people about the organization's work in South Kohala and North Kona and how the lessons learned there created a foundation for our work across the State and spurred the growth of our non-profit. The talk was well received with some people even asking for fire history maps and Kaleo the Pueo stickers immediately afterwards. Mahalo to Chad Wiggins (The Nature Conservancy) and Lani Watson (NOAA) for inviting us to speak this year!

Our talk wasn't the only one focused on wildfire issues. In fact, a number of talks this year either focused on or mentioned wildfire as a primary threat to their efforts:

Creighton Litton (UH Manoa) talks wildfire in Hawaii and its impacts on carbon emissions.

Puuwaawaa management plan workshop full of fruitful discussion.

- Creighton Litton, stepping in for Clay Trauernicht, gave background on the wildfire situation in Hawaii using much of HWMO's fire history work and tying wildfires and their effects on carbon emissions.
- South Kohala Coastal Partnership's "Didi" Diaz-Lyke spoke about HWMO's recent involvement in their fuels reduction efforts at a couple sites along the Waiulaula watershed. 
- Melora Purell of the Kohala Center explained how wildfire changes soil surfaces by making them hydrophobic and thus creating a volatile environment for native plant regeneration (and surface runoff that smothers coral reefs).
- Sierra McDaniel of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park outlined the growing threat of wildfires in connection with climate change and how the major drought is impacting the native forest and creating fire hazards.
- During a group discussion about the outreach aspect of the Puu Waawaa management plan, wildfire was listed as one of five major topics to prioritize.
- Wilds Pihanui Brawner of Hawaii Forest Industry Association explained the importance of fire mitigation through fuels management at his site in Kaupulehu.
- We also connected with Lehua Luna Nursery during the community booth event that was open to the public. They were nice enough to hand out Ready, Set, Go! Wildland Fire Action Guides to those interested in learning what native plants would help protect their home from wildfire.

As a product of the event, we were able to connect to a variety of new contacts opening the door to a number of partnership opportunities. Of course, we couldn't have gotten to this point without the solid foundation our partners have built for us - something that ran right along with this year's theme of the Conference: collaboration.

Community members from South Kona share their lessons learned establishing community-based subsistence fishing efforts.

One of the sessions that stood out among the rest was the "Ka Ulu O Kakou - Growing Together to Expand Community Partnerships in Hawaii" forum. Community members from around the West side of Hawaii Island had the opportunity to share their stories about successful collaborations amongst their communities. Many had great lessons to share on how to build community and grassroots level participation in conservation efforts. These stories came at no better timing. Only a day before the session, Governor Ige signed into law a historic ruling that created "the State's first Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area in Haena." Those community members involved in the efforts celebrated in at the session and were commemorated the next day with the HCA Innovation Award.

Community members from the Haena efforts recognized with HCA Innovation Award.

To conclude, there were a number of accomplished keynote speakers at this year's event:

Learning hei is much more difficult than it seems. 

- Pualani Kanakaole Kanahele, president of the Edith Kanakaole Foundation who blended "native and western education background" to become a "foremost Hawaiian culture expert."
- Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy, accomplished conservationist who was primarily known for his "groundbreaking work on forest fragmentation in the Amazon, coining the term 'biological diversity', predicting the first global extinction rates, conception of debt-for-nature swaps, and co-founder of the public television series 'Nature.'" During the talk, he explained that there was a bright side to the significant portion of CO2 coming from ecosystem destruction: that it justified the importance of conservation and that it gave everyone the ability to make a difference by planting something.
- Kamanamaikalani Beamer, president and chief executive officer of The Kohala Center, who gave a powerful speech about how people could change and create structures.
- Senator Brian Schatz, who was not able to give a speech in person because of his need to be in Washington presented a video message congratulating Haena community members for their conservation efforts and the people responsible for bringing the international conservation conference (IUCN) to Hawaii next year.
- DLNR Chair Suzanne Case, who spoke of her support for adaptive game management plans and on a plan to take 10,000 acres from UH on Mauna Kea for conservation purposes.


Palehua Ranch Site Visit

The next two years, HWMO will be focusing attention on sparking communities across Hawaii to start their own fuels reduction projects with seed money provided by HWMO. The bigger picture is to get these communities to become Firewise Communities or Fire Adapted Communities - communities that are active and engaged in protecting the community from the threat of wildfires. 

Incredible view of Waianae near the Palehua Ranch area.

We caravanned with Clay Trauernicht of UH CTAHR Cooperative Extension to meet with Anuhea, a ranger for Palehua Ranch (Gill Ewa Tract) on Oahu after our media event on May 27th. Anu took us on a site visit to see the fire danger surrounding the community of around 20 households, nested amongst ironwoods, eucalyptus, and tall grasses. The homes have been threatened multiple times from wildfires in the area, including the recent Makakilo fire that came dangerously close to the neighborhood and scorched the surrounding lands. Anu was integral in helping firefighters gain access to the wildfire and has been able to get the community rallied behind him for reforestation projects and defensible space action. Residents, he said, are quite attuned to the wildfire threat and have been taking proactive approaches that include removing invasive vegetation and replanting with native species.

We'll be working with Anu and Palehua Ranch these next two years to provide them funding for community fuels reduction projects and eventually applying for Firewise Community Certification.


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Wildfire Preparedness from Mauka to Makai - Natural Resource Manager Training

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Above: HWMO presented a thorough workshop for land managers from various agencies and organizations.

Hawaii Wildfire not only provide workshops to community members, but we also hold trainings specifically targeted towards natural resource managers. 

On April 10th, HWMO partnered with South Kohala Coastal Partnership and University of Hawaii Sea Grant to hold a training that outlined the basics of fire behavior and the tools natural resource managers can use to change fire behavior and minimize the threat of wildfires to their areas.

A number of different agencies and groups were present at the training, all interested in learning how to better prepare their lands for wildfire: UH Sea Grant, South Kohala Coastal Partnership, Hawaii County Planning, Mauna Kea Watershed Alliance, Queen Liliʻuokalani Trust, The Nature Conservancy, Vetiver Farms Hawaii, and the Kanehoa Subdivision Firewise Committee.

If you would like us to hold a training with your agency or community group, please don't hesitate to contact us: http://www.hawaiiwildfire.org/contact-1/.

 


“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of protection.””
— Chief Eric Moller, USAG-P, FES

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