New pact aids Maui’s
watershed protection

By Gary Kubota
Star-Bulletin

KAHAKULOA, Maui -- Randy Bartlett worries about an increase in axis deer that could threaten the West Maui Mountains watershed, which serves major communities in west, south and central Maui.

But a recent partnership involving more than 47,000 acres of west Maui land will improve the likelihood of controlling the deer and other alien species that eat native plants, said Bartlett, a watershed supervisor for Maui Pineapple Co.

The partnership was signed yesterday by Maui Pineapple, C. Brewer & Co., the state, the county, Amfac/JMB Hawaii Inc., Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate and the Nature Conservancy.

A similar partnership for east Maui was signed in 1991.

Michael Wilson, chairman of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources, said the partnership, coupled with the east Maui pact, puts the island at the forefront of watershed protection statewide.

The west Maui partnership not only combines landowners' materials and manpower, but also enables them to develop a joint plan to control alien species.

The area is home to many endangered species, including the greensword, silversword and the west Maui bog violet.

"For the first time as landowners, we're going to work together regardless of boundaries," said Avery Chumbley, a state senator and president of Wailuku Agribusiness, a subsidiary of C. Brewer.

Chumbley said C. Brewer will continue working on west Maui watershed projects but will be doing them more effectively because of working jointly with other landowners.

He said the partnership also enables landowners to receive more grants for conservation.

The partnership plans to work together to decide where to place fences to prevent wild pigs from entering and uprooting watershed areas.

Partnership officials also intend to develop a plan to control the alien plant tibouchina, a bush that grows 10 to 12 feet in height, with pink flowers and small, pale-green fuzzy leaves one to two inches in length.

Unlike native plants that percolate water into the ground, tibouchina tends to absorb the water or cause water to run off the land, conservation officials say.

Mark White of the Nature Conservancy estimates patches of tibouchina can be found on about 5,000 acres in west Maui.

Maui water board Chairman Robert Takitani said he hopes the work by the partnership will eventually increase the amount of ground water.

The county has been developing new sources of water in central Maui because of water usage reaching critical levels at Iao, near the eastern foot of the West Maui Mountains.

State land department Deputy Director Gilbert S. Coloma-Agaran said he hopes the success of the partnership eventually encourages similar partnerships on other islands.