Story By Staff Sgt. Crista Yazzie, photo by Kim Welch
USARPAC Public Affairs

MAKUA VALLEY, Hawaii (February 8, 2008) – Endangered species of Hawaii have found a friend with the Army Natural Resources Program.
Members recently scaled some of Oahu's tallest ridges and rode helicopters to its tightly-angled peaks in order to keep the countryside green.

"It was absolutely amazing," said Candace Russo, environmental outreach specialist. "We got to fly in a helicopter to the most beautiful spot that I've ever been to, all while surrounded by native Hawaiian vegetation and then we outplanted even more vegetation."
     The ANRP works within land that the Army owns, primarily caring for endangered species found on the land.

Outplanting involves collecting seeds from endangered plants in the land, replanting the seeds in the ANRP nursery, and then returning the seeds to the same area they were originally collected.

Reintroductions for endangered species are conducted seasonally, during the rainy season, between December and the beginning of March. This particular venture encompassed two days of outplanting.
         "We bring the plants up with us in the helicopter, take a couple of loads with us, and we carry the plants down along the slope on the side of the ridge, to particularly good habitats for each plant," stated Kim Welch, environmental outreach specialist.
          Due to weather, the outplanting crew was unable to use helicopters on the first day. Instead, they hiked to the site in the Wai`anae Mountain Range, carrying the plants in with them.
       "They're definitely troopers, hiking at least 45 minutes to the site, and it's very steep terrain, so they did an awesome job getting it done," said Jane Beachy, Natural Resources Management Coordinator.

"People don't always realize that Oahu has a lot of endangered plants, that there are a lot of amazing resources out there to preserve them, and just how much is being done to facilitate their stabilization," Beachy said.
        One plant finding more ground along the ridge thanks to ANRP is the Loulu, an endangered palm native to the northern Waianae Mountains, scientific name pritchardia kaalae.
        "The largest population of this palm is found in the Makua Valley on the training range," said Welch.
         "We do a lot of work with this palm, the main threat being rats, which eat all its fruit," said Beachy. "Rats are so good at eating all the fruit that there had been no young trees for many years. So we set out rat bait, and we collect fruit from the tree, grow it, and take it back to the wild. And now there are hundreds of trees growing."
         During the second day of outplanting, 90 Palapali ferns were planted in Makua along the O'hikilolo Ridge, on the southern boundary ridge of the Makua Valley.
         The Palipali are not endangered, but are planted as a form of weed control. Culturally, the plant is significant to Hawaiians for use in Hula and lei-making.
         "We have a relationship with a Hula Halau (Hula group), and Palapali is used quite often in the hula," said Russo. "This halau comes out and does volunteer work with us, then after a certain number of trips, they come out and collect ferns for their performances."
        In 2000 there weren't any seedlings in the Makua Valley, Russo said, now there are 100s. "We don't want to make the forest into a garden but we want to give the forest a bit of a head start," she said.

Improving eco-system quality, invasive species control and trying to help jump-start forest restoration are just a few of the many missions of the ARNP.
 

If interested in finding out more about the program or volunteering, contact Kim or Candice, at 656-8341.