HAWAI‘I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK CENTENNIAL April 17, 2016 • 25 in different ways,” Gansecki said. She was hardpressed to choose her own favorite part of HVNP. “Where to start?” Gansecki said. “I think it’s just one of the most amazing places on Earth.” “I’ve never worked in a job (where) I love going to work as much as I do,” Fien said. The nonprofit has “quadrupled in size in the past four years,” she said. “It’s grown from a little teeny organization.” Initially, the group was formed by volunteers seeking to restore and maintain the park’s Ainahou ranch property. But over time, Friends of Ainahou morphed into something bigger. There are now close to 450 members worldwide. “Canada is a big one,” Fien said of the international friends. “Canada, Spain and France.” Two of the institutes (field seminars and private tours) offered by the Friends are for French-speaking tour groups. The institutes are a key revenue stream for the Friends. “Otherwise, I don’t know how we’d support all of these programs,” Fien said. The institutes also receive funding from the Hawaii Tourism Authority and Hawaii County. The Friends’ signature program is Youth Rangers, which trains teens from Ka‘u and Puna for jobs in the park. Youth Rangers expanded to include the Kona parks this year. It’s a way to get the next generation excited about HVNP and what it has to offer. “I think because this park is a (UNESCO) World Heritage Site and (an International Biosphere Reserve) … people want to come to this park,” Fien said. “What we want to see is people connected in a deeper way.” Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald. com. FRIENDS From page 24 the trails, taking visitors through the unit’s history, from the 1868 Mauna Loa lava flow to the ranching era. Park staffers envision a future for Kahuku that builds on public accessibility while working toward the longterm goal of restoring the forest that was cleared for pastureland. The forest was once similar to that of the Ka‘u Forest Reserve, on Kahuku’s eastern borders. In the short amount of time that the land has been largely left to its own devices, that regrowth already is taking place. It’s especially noticeable in areas that have been fenced off and protected from the mouflon herds that are still on the slopes. “We’re seeing a lot of natural recovery occurring right now,” Awong said. Koa trees are growing in some sections of Kahuku. In others, where cattle once ate seedlings before they could take root, more ohia trees are coming back. Kahuku already is home to several endangered species, from the Mauna Loa silversword to the nene. With the restoration efforts, those species will have more room to thrive. And some 120,000 acres of the unit meet eligibility requirements for the National Wilderness Preservation System (130,950 acres of the main HVNP unit are already designated wilderness, which is the highest federal conservation level under which it can be placed under). The park’s recent general management plan describes an ideal Kahuku future as one that remains “rustic in design to provide a primitive visitor experience.” The long-term goal is to have the Kahuku Unit open seven days a week, but that is contingent on how much federal funding is appropriated to HVNP. “Right now, we’re a pretty small operation,” Awong said. “But it’s exciting. It’s exciting to have (the unit) — there’s so much possibility out there.” KAHUKU From page 23
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