02-26-2025, 02:04 AM
(This post was last modified: 02-26-2025, 02:05 AM by Moderator 2.)
Five staff members at the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge were among the more than 400 employees with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service who were fired earlier this month as part of the drastic downsizing of the federal government by the Trump Administration.
Before the forest became a federal refuge, most of the 32,733 acres were parcels of land with cattle and few trees. In the last 40 years, volunteers and greenhouse staff have planted more than 600,000 native trees in that pastureland, said Debbie Anderson, president of the Friends of Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge.
“Now there are acres and acres of koa, mamane, and ʻohia. It is a remarkable success story for reforestation,” Anderson said. “Native birds are now nesting in those trees and we want to continue reviving higher elevation forests, especially if avian malaria continues to grow with the rising temperatures.”
“The greenhouse which is full of seedlings will lie fallow; all outplanting will diminish and ultimately cease. The huge progress in reforesting former pasturelands will slow to a halt. Pigs will run rampant throughout the refuge. Gorse will invade the forests. The future is grim.”
https://bigislandnow.com/2025/02/25/five...istration/
Before the forest became a federal refuge, most of the 32,733 acres were parcels of land with cattle and few trees. In the last 40 years, volunteers and greenhouse staff have planted more than 600,000 native trees in that pastureland, said Debbie Anderson, president of the Friends of Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge.
“Now there are acres and acres of koa, mamane, and ʻohia. It is a remarkable success story for reforestation,” Anderson said. “Native birds are now nesting in those trees and we want to continue reviving higher elevation forests, especially if avian malaria continues to grow with the rising temperatures.”
“The greenhouse which is full of seedlings will lie fallow; all outplanting will diminish and ultimately cease. The huge progress in reforesting former pasturelands will slow to a halt. Pigs will run rampant throughout the refuge. Gorse will invade the forests. The future is grim.”
https://bigislandnow.com/2025/02/25/five...istration/