Hui O Ka Ulu La'au

Hui 'O Ka Ulu La'au at Hakalau Forest national Wildlife Refuge, November 2002.

Hui O Ka Ulu La'au is a group of people that have an interest and love of Hawai'i' s environment, especially Hawai'i's forests. We participate by volunteering whenever we can in conservation and restoration activities in the community.

The club was founded in November of 1999 by six students in the For 202 class at UH Hilo, and their professor, Dr. Randy Senock. Since then, the club has participated in numerous conservation and restoration activities such as:

Regular Trips to help out at Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge

Rare Native out-plantings on Saddle Road with staff from the Department of Land and Natural Resources - Division of Forestry and Wildlife

Attended the Hawaii Forestry 2010 Conference in January of 2000

Web site monitoring for Hawaii Forestry and Communities Initiative (HFCI)

Volunteer plantings at Ookala Community Forestry Project

Attended Native Plants in Public Places conference, November 2002

Kaho'olawe Access Trip, Spring Break 2003

We were lucky enough to enjoy a guided birding walk in the refuge.

Sunrise.

Nature possesses a magic that is unexplainable. However, this magical feeling is often corrupted by man. In Hawai`i it goes beyond the typical story of a developer paving over some pristine piece of land to make a parking lot. Here, one can be surrounded by plants, but still have a feeling that something’s not quite right. That’s usually because it’s not. Humans have brought countless alien plants to Hawai`i that spread uncontrollably, taking over the habitat of native plants. Add to this the horned locust and you’ve got a land that is forever changed from the way nature intended it.

At Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge people have the chance to atone for their sins. The forestry club’s recent trip to Hakalau gave us the chance to give back to the land people have taken so much from. We gathered seeds from koa trees and then madly shucked them, trying to beat the record for most seeds shucked in a day. We’ll pretend we did it. Later, we got to pick our own tree or shrub and find a nice home for it
in the ground.

The horticulturist at the refuge, Baron, taught us the many wonders of native plants. We got to see endangered ha`has and oha wais. It would be impossible to not be enthusiastic about the restoration efforts at Hakalau after spending time with Baron. His passion was as contagious as his laugh.

We were blessed with beautiful weather the entire trip. We were lucky to have Erik along, who was able to take advantage of the clear night sky to educate us on the constellations. The group had a communal experience making dinner together and sharing this amazing trip with each other.

It was inspiring to see that man can truly make a difference - for the better. It’s mind blowing to see the amount of koas, ohi`as, pukiawe, and other native plants that have been returned to take back the ravaged land, which at the moment is blanketed in invasive grasses. Slowly, but surely, these native plants are taking a stand.
Each morning, as we watched the sun rise over this special place with the sound of the nene in the background, one couldn’t help but think this may be the dawning of a new hope for Hawai`i’s native plants and birds. It was truly great to even be a small part of that.

-Miranda Watson

P h o t o s

Rare Nene swimming on the refuge.

Erik, Alli, and Bill outplanting native Hawaiian plants.

Baron sharing his vast knowledge with the group.

Miranda picking koa seeds.

Koa seeds.

Reforested koa with Mauna Kea in the background.

Successfully outplanted haha.

Fair and Kari watching the sunrise over the refudge.

Mauna Kea at sunrise.

A close up of the flowers and fruit of the edangered Haha, a native lobellia.

A 100 years old koa cabin.

We were also lucky enough to see some silversword planted outside the visitors center on Mauna Kea.

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