Maui Diaries - Day 2: Field Day
Sep 29th, 2020
Today was a typical Ridge to Reefs 9AM-6PM field day. We met with a few of our partners, Tova Callender, the Watershed Coordinator with West Maui Ridge 2 Reef, and Wesley Crile, Coastal Dune Restoration Specialist with University of Hawaii Sea Grant Program (and his energetic son, Heron) to check out some “kickouts” along a steep dirt road in the Ka’anapali Coffee Plantation and Kapunakea Nature Preserve. These kickouts are designed to slough water from the road down the gulch to avoid extreme erosion from rainfall events. A few years back, we planted vetiver grass rows in these kickouts to capture excess sediment that otherwise was washing off the mountain, down into streams and out to the nearby coast. Sediment overload can suffocate coral reefs and cause unusual levels of turbidity in these vital ecosystems. Capturing the sediment upstream with fast-growing, deep-rooted grasses such as vetiver is a cost-effective and natural solution to keep the reefs safe.
It has been uncharacteristically dry in Maui for this time of year. Consequently, the air was clear, making the view from our project site even more stunning than usual. As we climbed up the steep mountain road to scope out the twenty-something vetiver kickouts, we could see the waves breaking and the mountain contours on the adjacent islands of Moloka’i and Lana’i. Along the way, we brainstormed pilot projects for managing invasive/introduced species such as eucalyptus and strawberry guava (which is delicious, by the way); and took GPS coordinates and notes for each of the kickouts.
It was a long, fulfilling day of hiking, scheming, planning, and talking conservation goals, and we accomplished a great deal through our intentional walk out in nature. And I must say that it was especially refreshing to be accompanied by a nine year old the whole way; his adventurous spirit and amazing knack for identifying plants really added something special to our work day. His tree climbing and rolling-in the-dirt were inspiring, and he even had some genius suggestions when it came to experimental design. Playing out in nature never gets old, and it’s perhaps made even better when you work for an organization that gets funded to protect the beautiful land- and seascapes we all cherish so much.