Blog
News, updates, finds, stories, and tidbits from staff and community members at KAHEA. Got something to share? Email us at: kahea-alliance@hawaii.rr.com.
Board member Jon Osorio testifies at the PLDC hearing on Oahu
"My name is Jonathan Osorio. I am a professor of Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa and board member of the KAHEA Hawaiian Environmental Alliance. KAHEA calls for the repeal of ACT 55 and believes that there are no rules that can alter the intent and eventual outcomes of this legislation.
Act 55 is designed to allow commercial interests to ignore territorial, state and local regulations that have been implemented since before Hawaiʻi was a state to protect our Islands forests, streams, oceans and beaches and more recently to concede Native Hawaiians unrelinquished claims to what this Act refers to as the public lands.
Rules notwithstanding, the Act will produce new opportunities for a taking of Ceded Lands, whether through outright sales and transfers or through long term leases that might just as well be sales. And Hawaiians will sue. In fact, I think that the ultimate product of Act 55 will be endless litigation and a deepening mistrust of a state government that cannot manage our resources or plan effectively for the future."
Mahalo to Pono Kealoha for the video footage
Monk Seals Tied to Land and Sea: A Look at Critical Habitat
Hawaiian monk seals are on a path toward extinction unless we take steps to protect them. Accordingly, in 2008 KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, and Ocean Conservancy petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service to designate the beaches and coastal waters around the main Hawaiian Islands as critical habitat for the seal. The seals can no longer survive in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands alone; they are dying from starvation, and only one of every five pups born there will survive to adulthood. The main islands are also needed for their recovery. With critical habitat designation in the remote and main islands, and implementation of recovery actions, the seals have a chance.
Keeping the Call Alive: Makana, Monk Seals and Mauna Kea Fundraiser
Please join us on May 26th from 6-9pm at Calvary by the Sea for an evening of food, fun, and music! We'll have art by Ed Greevy, Meleana Meyer and other local artists for sale. There will be `ono smoke meat plates available for purchase as well as other pupu. Featured artists include Makana with special guest Lono, Jon Osorio and friends, Kawika Kahiapo and Bobby Moderow.
Poli'ahu i ke kapu Mahalo
Hawane extends her gratitude to everyone who voted for Poli’ahu i ke kapu, a tribute to the divine snow goddess of Mauna Kea which recently won in the category of Single, Hawaiian Language for this year’s Big Island Music Awards.
Oppose Unqualified Political Appointee to the Water Commission
Hearing Thurs. Apr. 5 @ 1:15 pm
GMO Labeling Rally
Whether you love them or hate them, why not label Genetically Modified Organisms? Uncle Walter Ritte, longtime activist from Moloka`i organized an event on February 21st to bring attention to both GMO labeling issues and the fact that none of the bills that would require such labeling will be heard this session. Uncle Walter reminded us all that it is our job to pressure lawmakers to take seriously this issue. Read more about Kukunaokalā's (our intern) experience--he went the day they built the ahu for Hāloa on the lawn as well as the day of the consecration and rally. See you next year at the capitol for this issue!
Sierra Club comments to the NSF Portfolio Review Committee
A letter from the Moku Loa Group of the Sierra Club sent to the National Science Foundation to dissuade them from funding the Thirty Meter Telescope.
