I encourage you to attend our Annual Meetings each January; you’ll learn more about our organization, the latest news from the Refuge and opportunities to volunteer throughout the year. Save the morning of Saturday, January 18th, 2025 for our next Annual Meeting.

Our newsletter also lists the donors who gave generously in 2024 to our Friend’s General Fund – mahalo to all of you. We are all volunteers, so your financial gifts are 100% devoted to serving our mission. The money goes to providing resources to the Refuge (koa and mamane seedlings, pig brigs and KUPU necessities) and internal organizational costs such as managing our website, paying for subscriptions for our newsletter, membership database and insurance, stocking our store with t-shirts and hosting our annual WALK FOR THE WILD.

Another important date for you to remember is Saturday, October 5th when we’ll host our 3rd Annual WALK FOR THE WILD up at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge coordinated by the Public Lands Alliance (PLA) and held close to National Wildlife Refuge Week (Oct 6-12). My husband and I attended both the 1st and the 2nd WALK’s FOR THE WILD, interacting with the numerous expert guides on the 5K Pua Akala walk, making new friends and taking in all that is Hakalau Forest. I can’t recommend this experience strongly enough for families, birders, botanists, and nature-lovers in general. Registration starts on August 28th, and there is a registration cap of 500 people, so again please remember these key dates.

A final request – please consider joining one of our 11 Friends’ committees. We welcome newcomers with open arms! The Friends of Hakalau Forest NWR is a growing, innovative and energetic organization and we welcome your involvement. Young, older, experienced, not-experienced; we’d love to have you join us.

Annual Meeting Presentations

Context of "Place" in the 'Āina Mauna

Peter T. Young

To view the other presentations from the annual meeting, click the links below.

Refuge Update by Tom Cady, Refuge Manager, Big Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex

Makahiki o Nā Manu Nahele (Year of the Forest Birds) by Ande Buskirk, Department of Land and Natural Resources, State of Hawaii. DLNR has designated 2024 as the Year of the Forest Birds; an exciting initiative to celebrate the jewels of our Hawaiian forests

Annual Meeting Awards

Cathy Lowder



Cathy has served over two terms (remember that each full term is six years) as a FOHF Board Member, starting as Treasurer in 2009, and ending as Treasurer in 2020. She also served as Secretary for a couple of years in between. Cathy is a living history book for our Friends group and can answer a multitude of questions of how things were and why, in previous years. Cathy has volunteered and led many field trips at Hakalau Forest and organized our t-shirt sales for many years. We’re pleased to present this plaque to her in recognition of a job well done.

Jack Jeffrey



Jack was the first biologist at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge and served in that capacity for many years. Upon his retirement became a renown birding guide and photographer/videographer of Hakalau’s endemic birds, plants and insects. Jack has volunteered his time at numerous Hakalau events, has served on the FOHF Board, was one of the founders of the Endowment. He documents the life of the precious endangered birds on social media posts. We are beyond grateful to him for everything he has done for the Friends group, including allowing us to use his images to promote our organization’s work. Thanks Jack and congratulations.

Dick Waas



Dick was the first Refuge Manager at Hakalau from 1987 to 2008. Dick initiated many of the essential restoration activities at the Refuge. His vision and drive set a standard for what it would take to restore/maintain habitat at Hakalau Forest. He has been associated with FOHF since 2008 and was one of the founders of the Endowment in 2015. He served as President, Vice President and Treasurer on the Board.

JB Friday



JB Friday is the immediate past president of FOHF, having served two full terms on the Board, first as Secretary and Treasurer, and the last six years as President. JB has had a distinguished career as an Extension Forester and the University of Hawaii Hilo in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management. He has brought a wealth of experience and expertise in ecology of Hawaiian forests to his exceptional tenure on our Board. JB has just begun a six-month sabbatical from UH Hilo, returning at the end of June.  

Mike and Sharon Scott



Mike and Sharon Scott are stalwart volunteers for FOHF. Mike has been on the Board since 2012 and was one of the founders of the Endowment. From 1974 to 1984 Mike worked for  the Fish & Wildlife Service and served as the Project Leader for the seminal Hawaii Forest Bird Survey. The results of the Hawaii Bird Survey provided the scientific foundation for identification of key native bird habitat and as such was the genesis of Hakalau Forest NWR.

Mike has had a distinguished 40+ year career as research biologist, working at numerous locations in the western United States. Mike is the enthusiastic Chair of the Endowment Committee, always rousing the committee members to greater heights in fundraising. Sharon is an equal partner with Endowment activities, providing countless hours of volunteer time to further the purposes of the endowment program, including sending thank you notes to donors, managing the donor spreadsheet and encouraging committee members to reach out to potential donors. The exceptional achievements of the endowment committee are principally due to the tireless efforts of both Mike and Sharon.

Ken and Patty Kupchak



Ken and Patty are wonderful volunteers – Ken is in his second six-year term with the Board and FOHF relies on his sound advice. Ken brings a wealth of legal knowledge and wisdom to many facets of the FOHF organization. Ken chaired the first two years of the annual Walk for the Wild and has passed that responsibility to Patty for 2024. Ken has now taken on the Interim Chair position for the Volunteer Committee and is helping the Education Committee with new ideas and committee members. Patty is an organizer extraordinaire, dealing with t-shirt sales, logos and answering questions as needed. The FOHF would not be where it is today without the extraordinary contributions of both Ken and Patty. We are very grateful for their service.

Refuge Update

Tom Cady, Refuge Manager, FWS

Kula Manu Bird School Participants 2024

Refuge Biologist, Eldridge Naboa, with the help of I&M, PIFWO and DOFAW partners, hosted a primary bird school ‘Kula Manu (Bird Field School)’ from Jan 22-26 at Hakalau Forest NWR. The purpose of the Bird school was to train the next generation of biologists in Variable Circular Plot (VCP) survey methods and to increase the number of qualified forest bird surveyors in the state of Hawai’i. A total of 15 students and 7 mentors (trainers) participated in the training.

Visitor Services Manager, Leah Messer, and KUPU intern, Melanie Franze, worked with two volunteer groups (Leeward Community College and Hawai'i Pacific University) during the month of January. The two groups planted a total of 434 mamane seedlings at Hakalau Forest NWR.  

There was a site visit by Deputy Regional Director Bridget Fahey and Susan White to Hakalau Forest NWR. Partners from the Mauna Kea Watershed Alliance and Ecological Services also attended the visit. Deputy Manager Donna Ball met with state DOFAW managers at Keith Unger (McCandless Ranch) at the Kona Forest Unit to discuss upcoming state Waiea parcel fence construction project and planning for fire response.

The Biological Science technician certificate list was received following review by the SME panel. This GS-404-07 position will be focused on plant propagation (i.e. a new refuge horticulturist). Two Seed Banking Initiative biological science technician term GS-404-07 positions are in preparation for advertisement. The BAR funded Greenhouse Contract implementation planning is underway with contract awardee HCS Inc.  

Forest bird surveys at the Hakalau Forest Unit will be held from March 18 - 22 with mop-up the following week, if needed. The Kona Forest Unit (KFU) surveys will be conducted from April 1-5. New transects are planned to be installed soon in the upper/mauka area within KFU and will be read as part of the forest bird surveys. Acoustic song meters were deployed at the Kona Forest Unit in August 2023 will be retrieved the end of this month (February). We are hoping that the analysis of the meters will show presence of ʻuaʻu (Hawaiian petrel) and ʻakēʻakē (band-rumped storm petrel).

Pest control team doing ungulate and weed surveys at Hakalau in January

Keanu Hamada will be starting as the biology program assistant under KUPU who will be supervised by Eldridge. Keanu will be focused on the pollinator project. Keanu comes to us from the Akaka Foundation working with Pilina ʻĀina and the Forest Service.

Pest management staff conducted the semi-annual weed and ungulate surveys with the assistance of 16 volunteers, from Pohakuloa Training Area and from Pacific University. Pig abundance estimates are down 43% in North Shipman and 21% in Upper Honohina where trapping was recently conducted.

Pest management staff continued feral ungulate control activities in Upper Honohina and Pua Akala, using the donated Pig Brigs. Pest management staff completed quarterly fence inspection and repairs, rebaiting of predator traps, and incipient weed control activities at the Kona Refuge, notably treating over 300 Japanese Anemone plants using a treatment method recommended by The Nature Conservancy's Kona Hema team.

Pest management staff resumed gorse control in North Shipman and Pua Akala units and completed work with DOFAW and Mauna Kea Watershed Alliance to clear the eucalyptus from Piha-Maulua Fenceline. The fenceline is now ready for replacement/repair. The pest management staff also attended a multi-agency small mammal predator control meeting to learn about latest technical advances and completed the external sling-load helicopter training in preparation for our gulch repair project (replacing 24 gulch barriers along our lower fence-lines this year).

And most importantly, Tom and Donna oversaw the Pua Akala lua pumping and servicing. All went well and new locks were applied

MAHALO NUI LOA

Friends of Hakalau Forest 2023 General Fund Donors

Friends of Hakalau Forest would like to send our sincerest "Mahalo" to all of our donors in 2023. We could not do it without your continued support!

$1,000 to 4,999  

Fidelity Charitable, John Drouilhet, James C. Shingle Family Fund, Joseph Heron & Patricia Baird, Grace Lee, Howard & Jane Mayo, Robert W Nemechek, Fred L. Ramsey, John Taranu, Lynette Williams. 

$500 to $999  

Anonymous, Kathryn Carey, Carole L Fitzpatrick, Edward Oz Garton, Hawaii Birds LLC, Hawai'i Forest & Trails, Kekuhi Kealiikanakaole, Kenneth Mamitsuka, Kate Martel, Scott Mercer, Ann Rothe*, Peter A. Stine.

Photo Credit: Jack Jeffrey

$250 to $499  

Mark Devencenzi, Network for Good, Paul & Jane Field, Veda Hackell, David Lassner, Denise Mackey*, McCormick & Company, Inc., Tony Peckham, Ivan Phillipsen, Oliver Ryder, Jerry & Sheila Wroblewskis

$100 to $249  

Jennifer Ayres, Peggy Bourg, Shawn Brenneman, Deborah Brown, Chuck Carney, Julie Denslow, Beth Roney deYoung, Patricia Finfrock*, Carrie Fraser*, Andrea Gill, Sales Force.com, Inc., Cindy Helton, Robert Hollyer, Ann Humphrey, Jerry Leinecke, Kumiko Hasegawa Mattison, Dick May, Kevin and Debra McCarthy, Andrew McCormick, John (Hal) Michael, Lisa Muehlstein, Ralston H Nagata, Berl & Karen Nussbaum, Jane Ouweleen, Doug Perrine, Martin Raphael, Sally & Tom Reeve, Patricia Richardson, Sarah Ruiz, Jill Steinsiek, Kassandra Talamantez, Susie Turk, Kirsten Udani, Robyn Wilson, Renee Wong

Less than $100  

Dawn Allison, Etan Bard, Marlee Breese, Arlene Buchholz, Jordan Call, Yue Chin Chew, Costco Workplace Giving Campaign, Mollie Crispell, Chris Davidson, Ray de Mesa, Kimberly De Souza, Meris Emory, J B Katie Nathanael and Hilda Friday, Mike Giusti, Keith Gress, Katie Hirt, Charley Hough, Seiko Imoto, Josef Goldufsky, Leslie Hall, Kyle S Harada, Christiana Hetzel, Ellen Jacobs, Judi Jenks, Marion Kanemori, Patricia Joan Kawaa, Keith & Terri Kropf, Beverly Kutsunai, Daniel Lindsay, Mark Locker, Catherine T. Luthe, Rosalie Mandel, John & Stephanie Marrack, Julia Marrack, Susan B. & Bob McClanahan, Shirley Mendoza, Sharon Murotsune, Jill Nagamine, l Hob Osterlund, Karin O'Conner, Susan Olson, Jennifer Parks, Jeffrey A. Payne, Andrea Pro, David Raymer, Eileen Regan, Michael Sherwood, Jenna Silverman, Barby Suenishi, Janet Taylor, Glen Tepke, Yoshiharu Wada, Heather Westbrook, Bertram and Joanne Wong, Irwin Wyoming, Eleu Zane

*Refers to recurring monthly donors. 

These donations support our office operations (website, financial and newsletter software, insurance etc) and allow the Friends to support the refuge (pig brigs, mamane seedlings, t-shirts for refuge volunteers etc.). 

Donors to the Endowment will be recognized in a separate email

PLEASE SAVE THE DATE

October 5th 2024

Friends of Hakalau Forest NWR's Third Annual

WALK FOR THE WILD

Walk for the Wild is part of a national celebration of National Wildlife Refuge Week. Last year 48 Teams representing 70 refuges participated. While the National celebrations are always held during the second full week in October, in consideration of the start of the nēnē nesting season in mid October, the Friends of Hakalau Forest NWR was able to not only obtain the kōkua of the Refuge, but also the national organizers to schedule our Pua Akala Trail Walk early on October 5th this year. We look forward to you joining us on October 5th to enable us to lead the nation in registrations for a third straight year!

PLEASE SAVE THE DATE AND PLAN ON ATTENDING AND/OR VOLUNTEERING.

Hawaiian Holly

Marcia Stone

Hawai'i’s plants are known for losing their defenses over time due to a lack of predators. Thus, we have mintless mints and a stingless stinging nettle. One other plant in this category is the Hawaiian holly. In Europe, holly was adopted as a symbol of Christ’s crown of thorns because of its spiny leaves. That holly has the scientific name of Ilex acquifolium. Our native holly, whose Hawaiian name is kawa'u, has the scientific name of Ilex anomala (which is Greek for unusual). Instead of spiny leaves, there is a smooth outer edge with just the tip showing a point. The rest of the leaves are stiff and leathery, with a glossy top and dull underside. A distinctive trait is the dense network of veins which can be seen on close inspection. (And while you’re looking closely at the leaves, you might check the underside for happy-faced spiders that seem to prefer good-sized native leaves.) 

Hawaiian Holly Kawa'u

(Ilex anomala)

Unlike the European holly, which has white flowers with red fruit, kawa'u has white flowers with black fruit. These fruits appear in clusters among the leaves. 

To find kawa'u, look in wet to mesic forests, at about a 1,000 to 5,000 foot elevation. It can be quite abundant in some places. It is found in the form of a shrub or tree on all the Hawaiian islands, as well as our cousin islands, the Marquesas and Tahiti.

Friends Volunteer Trip Opportunities for 2024

Five work trip opportunities and perhaps a Family Weekend and an Artist’s excursion are part of the Friends of Hakalau Forest NWR’s attempt to expand activities post-COVID at the Refuge for Friends members in 2024.

Please contact each trip’s leader(s) for confirmation of exact timing and other essentials. Trips are only with Leader discretion and for MEMBERS ONLY. You must execute liability and NIL release documents. Transportation is limited.

Christine Ahia (kilikina.ahia@gmail.com) and Patty Kupchak (pattykupchak@gmail.com) are developing a potential artist’s excursion. If you are an artist, a MEMBER, and have ideas regarding the concept, please contact them.

Yvonne Chan, Ben Godsey, and Patty and Ken Kupchak (pattykupchak@gmail.com) are developing a potential family weekend. If you have a family and are a MEMBER with ideas for such a weekend, please contact them.

T-SHIRTS ARE BACK!

AND FRONT!

Back by popular demand! The Friends of Hakalau Forest T-Shirts are now available using the link above. We have men's, women's, and children's sizes in long and short-sleeved styles.

Excited to join one of our fun and busy committees?

Committees are the operating system of any organization, including the Friends of Hakalau Forest NWR. Besides being interesting and educational, being a committee member will help you develop skills in teamwork, networking, event organizing, administration and emails, social media, and leadership. And you’ll meet and interact with people who likely aren’t in your regular circle of friends and colleagues. We’d love to have you join one of our committees! Please email us at friendsofhakalauforest@gmail.com to let us know which one of the following you would like to join:

• Education Committee - educates the general public and our communities about FOHF
• Endowment Committee - manages and coordinates fundraising efforts
• Finance Committee - keeps track of FOHF’s assets and liabilities
• Legislative/Public Affairs Committee – provides advice and counsel to the Board re public policy and legislative priorities
• Marketing and Public Relations Committee - creates awareness of the good work that FOHF does by creating marketing and PR campaigns
• Membership Committee - keeps track of membership fees and looks for ways to attract new members
• Nominating & Governance Committee - recruits and orients new board members, and focuses on the effectiveness of the board
• Retail Sales Committee - responsible for the purchase and sale of FOHF merchandise
• Technology Committee - reviews and approves FOHF’s technology planning and strategy
• Volunteer Committee - responsible for the recruitment and coordination of all volunteer efforts for FOHF
• Walk for the Wild Committee - plans the annual Walk for the Wild event

The Friends of Hakalau Forest NWR is a membership organization. Membership dues and donations to the Friends are our only source of funds allowing us to cover our expenses.