Governor Josh Green, M.D.

DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS

Ka ʻOihana ʻĀina Hoʻopulapula Hawaiʻi

JOSH GREEN, M.D.

GOVERNOR

KE KIAʻĀINA

KALI WATSON

CHAIRPERSON

HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION

ANAHOLA NONPROFIT LEADS FIRE MITIGATION EFFORTS ON HAWAIIAN HOMELANDS

‘Āina Alliance organizes community workday to remove abandoned cars

 

 

Volunteers clear dozens of abandoned cars along a firebreak in Anahola

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 26, 2024

ANAHOLA, KAUAʻI – Dozens of high school students and volunteers removed over 30 abandoned cars from a parcel of Hawaiian homelands in Anahola Thursday as part of a community effort to reduce the risk of wildfires in the area.

The workday marks the one-year anniversary of a wildfire that threatened nearby neighborhoods when fast-moving flames prompted the precautionary evacuations of area homes. Investigators classified the 12-acre blaze as arson. Sixty-eight abandoned vehicles were scorched that day.

The initiative, dubbed “Heavy Impact” by local nonprofit and event organizer ‘Āina Alliance, provided students with the opportunity to engage with heavy machinery and gain insight from skilled operators while participating in the removal of junked cars.

“The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands values its partnership with ‘Āina Alliance and its steadfast commitment to safeguarding our trust lands and the surrounding communities from wildfires,” said DHHL Director Kali Watson. “Organizations like ʻĀina Alliance are the backbone of our communities and the actions demonstrated today will have lasting impacts on the future of Anahola.”

Jeremie Makepa, an Anahola homesteader and Kauaʻi County fire captain, leads ʻĀina Alliance’s efforts as its board president.

“This is our first venture into getting kids involved with the heavy equipment work needed to do fire mitigation and flammable fuel removal,” Makepa said. “In essence, we’ve been left a gift to where this generation will start cleaning up the area, and that will develop their love and passion for community and wildfire prevention.”

In February 2022 the Hawaiian Homes Commission approved a right-of-entry permit to the nonprofit. The permit encourages the stewardship, maintenance and management of approximately 432 acres of Hawaiian homelands along the Anahola coastline on Kauaʻi’s eastern end.

Prior to the issuance of a permit, the area was prone to illegal dumping and other criminal activity. More than 300 abandoned vehicles are scattered throughout the land parcel and more than 100 fires have been reported in recent years.

“It’s about preservation and there’s nothing better than having our own children caring for the ‘āina,” Hawaiian Homes Kauaʻi Commissioner Dennis Neves said. “We’re here today because we understand how important it is to take care of our own ‘āina all while getting our ʻōpio to surround our community with their love and skills to help us move forward.”

The event was conducted in conjunction with North Shore Give Week, a series of charitable events hosted by North Shore Give, the dba for the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Kauaʻi North Shore Community Foundation. The foundation works to improve the lives of residents from Anahola to Hāʻena through collaborative solutions for community challenges.

Click here to download visuals, soundbites.

B-roll (1:47)

Soundbites:

Jeremie Makepa, Board President, ʻĀina Alliance

(21 seconds)

“In this area we have over 300 abandoned cars, decades of dumping that has happened in this area, and as we’re trying to clear it I had the idea of, we need to get the next generation involved so that they see the problems and then maybe this generation won’t do the dumping and they’ll help us do the clearing.”

Dennis Neves, Kauaʻi Commissioner, Hawaiian Homes Commission

(11 seconds)

“It’s about bringing our community together, not looking for someone else to do it, take responsibility and understand where you need to go for your future moving forward for your children as well.”

 

Stefan Swanepoel, President, North Shore Give

(26 seconds)

“Community collaboration is absolutely, unequivocally, critically important, many times people that are on the island whether they were born here, or whether they by choice moved here, are not aware of all the activities, of the local importance of the land and the beaches and the cultures and all of the activities, so the more we can share with other homeowners, residents and of course the school kids way fantastic, something we should all be doing all the time.”

Trey Refamonte, Sophomore, Kapaʻa High School

(17 seconds)

“Learning the equipment, learning the safety, learning the machine, learning how to maintain it, learning the people where I can buy equipment from and learning how we can help people, help out the land, help out the community.”

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About the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands:

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands carries out Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole’s vision of rehabilitating native Hawaiians by returning them to the land. Established by U.S. Congress in 1921 with the passage of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, the Hawaiian homesteading program run by DHHL includes management of more than 200,000 acres of land statewide with the specific purpose of developing and delivering homesteading.

 

 

Media Contact:

Diamond Badajos

Information and Community Relations Officer

Department of Hawaiian Home Lands

Cell: 808-342-0873

[email protected]