by Milt Lum, Contributing Writer
ʻIʻiwi — Wikipedia CommonsThe Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge is a 32,733- acre reclaimed pastureland located at the 5,000 foot level on the windward slope of Mauna Kea, the 13,000 foot volcano on the island of Hawaiʻi. Established in 1985 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through the purchase of existing ranchland, the refuge is now home to 29 critically endangered species including seven birds, one insect, one mammal, and 20 plants found nowhere else in the world. It is a microcosm of what once populated the mountain slopes and deep valleys of all of the Hawaiian Islands a mere three centuries ago.
Continue reading “Restoring a Forest Canopy”