MALAMA MAHA 'ULEPU an interview with BERYL BLAICH

by ROBYNNE BOYD

Hands clasped together in front of her face and eyebrows slightly furrowed, Beryl Blaich, “Coordinator and Spokesperson,” for Malama Maha 'ulepu, “a grassroots coalition,” carefully chooses her words, “The people of this island deserve to have an area like the old Kauai. Creating a large preserve would protect Maha ulepu and give value (economic) to the surrounding lands, not that this should be the reason for preservation,” said Blaich when discussing possible outcome’s for Maha ‘ulepu. “

Maha ‘ulepu is a beautiful stretch of land on Kauai’s south shore owned by Grove Farm Company. For generations, this rugged coastline has been a gathering place for families, a home for endangered species [the Nene, Hawaiian monk seal, Green sea turtle, Kauai’I blind cave spider, and the Kauai’I blind cave amphipod (one of the more unusual)] a wahi pana or legendary place where many battles were fought, ancestors buried and the last un-developed coastline on the south shore.

Inspired by Maha ulepu’s innate value, Malama maha’ulepu is “working to preserve, for future generations, the irreplaceable natural and cultural resources of Maha’ulepu and to sustain the experience of the place as an undeveloped area with compatible agricultural, educational and recreational use. Ideally, through cooperation and mutual interest between Grove Farm Company and Malama Maha’ulepu, a 2,900 acre preserve would be created consisting of approximately 10% of grove farm’s, ahuapua’a (land division). Inevitably this area would conserve historical, cultural, recreational and natural identity for Kauai.

One of the most common questions posed to Malama Maha ‘ulepu is why they’re so adamantly involved in protecting land which has no future development plans. In March 2002, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a critical habitat for the Kauai Cave Wolf Spider and Kauai Cave Amphipod within Grove Farm Company’s (GFC) boundary. Two months later, a response was sent by David Pratt, the CEO of GFC, asking for sights of future development to be excluded from the critical habitat consideration, “In view of their economic importance, we believe all of these areas should be excluded from consideration.” Future development plans for GFC include, a resort, 50 house lots and a quarry for limestone and basalt. And so the question returns, why all this effort to protect Maha ‘ulepu? The answer is simple this time: To preserve one of the last wild coastlines of Hawaii.

And so Beryl Blaich sits across from me, surrounded by maps, letters, photos, records of support and many other papers involving research and hours of work involved in protecting this land. For 2.5 years, Beryl Blaich has been a part of this project and has a grounded and optimitstic view of how development and conservation can go hand in hand. When asked for the best possible outcome, she smiles and looks me directly in the eyes, “We would want to meet some interest of the landowner, and I don’t believe that development in the surrounding area should not be dismissed, but creating a large preserve would be best for the land and the people of Kauai.”

The future of Maha’ulepu sits in the hands of Kauai now; from the owners of Grove Farm Company, Fish and Wildlife Service, Malama Maha’ulepu to the people of Kauai. “I have spent half of my life working towards preserving Maha’ulepu, this is the future, this is our kids future,” said David Chang, president of Malama Maha’ulepu. Let your voices be heard, for you are the voice of the future.