Hunters say outside aid 'slap in the face'

The Maui News
Monday, March 19, 2007
By LEHIA APANA, Staff Writer

KAUNAKAKAI - Some Molokai hunters want to shoot down a plan to hire outside professionals to control Hawaii's feral animal population.

The Nature Conservancy remains in discussions with Prohunt New Zealand Ltd. to bring in hunters, dogs and a helicopter to four islands to manage wild pigs and other feral animals. If hired, the company would spend six to eight months on conservancy lands hunting, tracking, and monitoring the animals to prevent them from further damaging forests and watershed lands.

Molokai Hunters Association secretary and longtime Native Hawaiian activist Walter Ritte Jr. said he favors conservation efforts but is upset that conservancy officials have not discussed their plans with island residents.

"We're letting them know that we're interested in the same things," he said. "We want to protect our forests and we want to work with them, but we want to sit and discuss this plan they have. We don't want them to tell us this is being implemented."

During a meeting held last month, members of the Molokai Hunters Association voted to hire a lawyer to fight for maintaining a feral animal population for island residents who hunt to keep food on their families' tables.

"We were hunting in those forests for thousands of years," said Ritte. "The Nature Conservancy has recently come to Molokai, and now they're acting like they own the forests without getting any input from the community, and especially the Native Hawaiians who have special gathering rights in these forests."

Ritte said conservancy officials have maintained a positive relationship with Molokai hunters since the early 1990s, but that he is "really disappointed" by their latest actions.

He said that in past years the conservancy has discussed its plans with local hunters, but now conservancy officials are "starting to make independent decisions without consulting us."

Evelyn Wight, strategic communications manager for The Nature Conservancy, said her organization tried to explain the proposed project to the Molokai Hunters Association during a meeting Jan. 23. But conservancy officials were unable to complete a presentation because "people in the room became very upset and started yelling."

President of the hunters' group, Ronald Rapanot Sr., said he has enjoyed working with the conservancy, but they "went about this the wrong way."

"They should've brought it out to the public first, not come out at the meeting and tell us what they're going to do," Rapanot said.

Since that meeting, conservancy representatives have been talking with people in smaller groups to avoid confrontation. The main goal of the meetings is to explain the project and silence rumors, Wight said.

"Some people have started saying things like we're going to try to eradicate the whole island, which of course is not our goal, and would never be our goal," she said.

On Molokai, work would be done on conservancy lands within the upper portions of Pelekunu Valley, including the leeward cliffs, the upper reaches of Kamakou, and on private lands above and below the fence on the island's southern slope.

"A lot of the land will still be open for hunting," said Wight. "We're working in a very small part of the island on Molokai - less than 10 percent of the island, which is only the most pristine forest that's at the very highest ridges of the mountains where few people even go."

Work on Maui would be done within the conservancy's two reserves - Waikamoi in East Maui and Kapunakea on the island's west side.

Nature Conservancy Maui Director Mark White said that "no tax dollars are going toward this," responding to concerns about the possible use of public funds.

Wight said the project's cost has not been determined, but it has been decided not to release the cost information.

"It's a very private piece of information," said Wight. "On Molokai, there were a lot of questions about who's paying for it, and basically, we're paying for it."

If hired, Prohunt is expected to arrive around May or June.

Not all Molokai hunters are against plans to hire Prohunt. State hunter education program instructor and longtime hunter Billy Akutagawa said that after hearing the conservancy's plans he supports the nonprofit's efforts.

"I think some people resist because they don't really understand what's going on, and some people will continue to advocate to the detriment of the greater good," Akutagawa said.

He said he agrees that the conservancy should have talked with hunters before contacting Prohunt, but the project will benefit both groups.

"The two groups need to come together - hunters need to be conservationists and conservationists need to understand the needs of the hunters," said Akutagawa.

Feral animals are killing Hawaiian forests. As they eat and wallow their way through the landscape, feral animals tear open native landscapes and leave them vulnerable to weeds. The animals' activity also contributes to erosion on mountain slopes. Rains send sediment into the ocean, where reefs are smothered by muddy water.

According to the conservancy, more than half of Hawaii's native forests are lost forever, with 18 percent of Molokai's original native forest intact. On Maui, 25 percent remains, and on the Big Island, 46 percent remains.

It's important to protect the remaining forests, Wight said, because more than 90 percent of Hawaii's native plants and animals are found nowhere else in the world. She said the native forests contain more than 10,000 plants, birds and other animals unique to the islands.

The Prohunt team would also visit Maui, Kauai and the Big Island, but in some areas would only monitor the feral animal problem and provide consultation services, Wight said.

Maui Hunter and Sportsman Club President Jeffery DeRego said the conservancy should continue to work with local hunters.

DeRego, whose club includes about 50 members, said many Hawaii hunters are against hiring outsiders to do something local hunters have been doing for years.

"When you bring someone from outside, it's like a slap in the face," said DeRego. "We can't see all that extra money being spent on bringing in people to do something we can do."

But Wight said current hunting efforts are not keeping pace with ongoing destruction, so the conservancy wanted to bring in "the best in the business" to prevent further damage to native forests.

Prohunt is doing similar work for The Nature Conservancy on Santa Cruz Island off the California coast and has a proven record of success, Wight said.

She said Prohunt would work closely with conservancy staff members to teach them new management techniques.

"We think our methods could be vastly improved by talking to some folks who have been doing work that is really a step above and beyond what we're doing in Hawaii," she said.

The conservancy is also in discussions with Landcare Research, a New Zealand-based company that would test and evaluate Prohunt's findings.

For more information about The Nature Conservancy, visit www.nature.org/hawaii. For information about Prohunt New Zealand Ltd., visit http://prohunt.co.nz.

To meet with The Nature Conservancy regarding Prohunt, contact Wight at (808) 537-4508.