Land Board to help with
Lanai watershed plan

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By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

Help is on the way for the water supply of Lanai, as a cooperative venture plans to fence 3,588 acres of the Lanaihale forest over the next several years.

The Board of Land and Natural Resources approved yesterday its department's participation in a watershed management program that also includes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the state Department of Health and Castle & Cooke Resorts.

The 12 miles of corrosion-resistant mesh fencing, with barbed wire on top, are to keep out axis deer.

As the introduced deer population has grown and recent drought conditions have worsened, the animals have been venturing to higher and higher elevations to find food, said Department of Land and Natural Resources service forester Karl Dalla Rosa. "Residents of Lanai could see that deer were destroying their watershed. There are deer trampling over golf courses and landscaping to get food."

As they browse, they are upsetting the delicate balance of plant cover that helps the areas more than 2,000 feet above sea level to trap moisture out of passing clouds -- even when rain doesn't fall.

"A good deal of the water (in Lanai) comes from cloud drip," Dalla Rosa said. Without it, Lanai would be even drier.

Surveying for the fence will be done this fall and winter, and the first of three sections could begin to go up in the spring, Dalla Rosa said.

As the fence line is plotted, any known or suspected archaeological sites will be avoided. The well-used Munro Trail, a four-wheel-drive road along the summit, will remain open to the public; there will be deer guards where it crosses fence lines. Native Hawaiian gathering and visitor sightseeing will continue.

The stewardship plan is for 10 years, with an estimated cost of $250,000 a year.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources has committed $75,000 a year; Fish & Wildlife has contributed at least $120,000 so far; and Castle & Cooke, Lanai's biggest landowner, will contribute whatever it takes to finish the job, Dalla Rosa said. Castle & Cooke has hired several employees specifically to work on the project, he said.

As each of three sections is fenced, public deer hunting will be encouraged to rid the area of deer, followed by additional hunting by Castle & Cooke employees. Then removal of non-native plants and planting of appropriate native plants can begin.

"It will be interesting to see what comes back," Dalla Rosa said.

In other business, the board:

>> Moved to ban boogie boards from Point Panic. A pending rule change would allow only one type of wave-riding device in the area: a handboard of less than 15 inches long, with no skegs. Approval from the governor is needed before the rule becomes final.

The motive is to increase safety for bodysurfers and swimmers using the area.

>> Moved forward with the Kaneohe Bay Piers Amnesty Program, which was "created to respond to complaints from legal pier owners who want their neighbors to start paying fees for the privilege of using the public lands in Kaneohe Bay," said Harry Yada, acting Department of Land and Natural Resources land administrator.

Of the 229 pier owners who were invited to participate in the program, at least 139 said they want to participate.

Pier owners who want to join the program should call Traver Carroll at 587-0439. Those with illegal piers who don't participate in the program will be subject to fines and/or removal of the piers.