The Honolulu Advertiser from Honolulu, Hawaii • 11

The Honolulu Advertiser Ha Monday August 4 1997 1 City Desk: 525-8090 nviroosiBs: Z1 irir JdiAWAI Sp atteond! toaSdDa ffestowa Big Mele traffic flows smoothly; crowd smaller than last year's Mele is pending. It was hot and dusty, but the day also was graced with blue skies. The Mele has a history of skewed line-ups and assorted mishaps. For example, 1995 headliner Tool canceled on the day of the show. Nevertheless, the Mele has gotten to the point where the bands playing are almost incidental to the allure of the event.

This year's roster wasn't the strongest ever, but there were standout sets by Wu-Tang Clan, 311 and Save Ferris and plenty of crowd energy. At day's end, the crowd was told to face the mountain behind them. "That's Wu Mountain," they were told. "Now turn back and say After a long day of moshing, that's how it ended: peacefully. ByDebAoki Special to The Advertiser Almost 6,000 happily sunburned people went yesterday to Windward Oahu's Kualoa Ranch for the fifth annual Big Mele.

Even with the last-minute cancellation of the Cardigans because of the recent death of a day. Traffic congestion was reduced from last year and lines for amenities such as water, shave ice and restrooms were shorter. Promoter Mari Matsuoka and Kualoa Ranch representative Ka'imi Judd had promised improved traffic on Kamehameha Highway. A decision on a sixth Big Union challenges jobs for disabled lave some hay By Edwin Tanji Advertiser Maui County Bureau WAILUKU, Maui Dor- ene is a gentle, cheerful 30-year-old woman who is moderately retarded. She has learned to mop a floor, empty a trash can and clean a window.

She just hasn't learned how to be on her own. "Someone would need to supervise her. She takes her job seriously. But there has to be someone to check on her once in a while," said her mother, Susan Souza. The Ka Lima Maui job training program for the disabled and mentally handicapped has been a major factor i Kalihi fire leaves 4 families homeless JAN TENBRUGGENCATE Precious soil needs our protection Parts of Hawaii are losing topsoil at 10 times the rate at which it forms.

For agriculture, for the scenic Hawaii that tourists appreciate, for residents, that's bad news. "It takes 500 years for 1 inch of soil to form. We're losing an inch every 50 years," said Ron Peyton, who heads a local office of the low-key federal agency charged with protecting our soils, the Natural Resources Conservation Service. It once was called the Soil Conservation Service. Peyton, who serves as district conservationist for Kauai County, said soil erosion in Hawaii is improving somewhat, largely because of the decline of sugar.

The way sugar has been grown in Hawaii involves tilling the fields after each two-year crop, leaving thousands of acres of bare dirt open to wind and water erosion. Tens of thousands of acres of former cane land now lie fallow; grasses and other weedy species have taken over. That's bad for the economy. But for the protection of the soil, providing a permanent plant cover to the old cane land is good news. It translates into less sediment running into streams, and less sediment ending up on the reefs.

The land won't stay vacant long, though. It's being converted to timber in Hamakua, to coffee on Maui, to papayas and artichokes on Kauai. In many cases, the big, single-owner plantations will be converted into smaller farms growing different crops. "It's a lot harder to deal with a lot of smaller farmers," said Leslie Ozawa, public affairs specialist with the service. Peyton said any landowner can call the service for help, although its main function is to support the local soil and water conservation districts.

The staff can help farmers prepare conservation plans, which can help them avoid having to get grading permits when they till their land. The service has identified three main points as key to preventing water erosion: Keep the soil permeable, so the water soaks in, instead ef running off. If the soil must be plowed, leave it in clods instead of plowing it up to fine dirt, which erodes more readily. Use various techniques to stop the direct flow of water and sediment into drainage ways using such things as terracing and settling basins. "Anything that will slow down the exit of water and get it into the soil is not only good for the soil, but it's good for the groundwater and good for the reef," Peyton said.

He said the land around Lihue, a silty clay loam, can probably lose 5 tons an acre per year, or about l32nd of an inch of soil, and still keep its basic fertility. But it's actually losing 10 to 40 tons per acre per year. That means there's still lots of work to be done, he said. Jan TenBruggencate is The Advertiser's Kauai bureau chief and its science and environment writer. You can call him at (808) 245-3074 or e-mail tenbaloha.net in Dorene's growth over the past 12 years.

But families of the disabled fear a dispute between Maui County and the United Public Workers over contracts with private companies may end the program. The rehabilitation agency Ka Lima Maui (Arm of Maui) provides a sheltered workshop, a plant nursery and other programs designed to help the mentally and physically disabled hold jobs. One program it runs with a training grant from Maui County goes toward having such workers clean county parks and facilities. See Disabled, Page B4 Firefighters said they believe the blaze was accidental and may have started in a kitchen possibly from unattended cooking. Gusting winds as high as 20 mph created a sense of urgency among the firefighters, who brought the fire under control in about 20 minutes.

It took more than two hours, however, to make sure all the hot spots in the structure were doused. "This was pretty hot," said Kuakini ladder Capt. Steve Barrett. "Some of the neighboring buildings were singed. One building was about 15 feet away and another about 10 feet away." The Hawaii State Chapter of the American Red Cross was helping three of the families find shelter, clothing and food.

The fourth family involved, as well as neighboring may also require aid. Donations may be made through the Red Cross by calling 739-8109. 300 Statute Miles Pinnacles former band member, and the earlier pullout of the Breeders, an enthusiastic all-ages crowd went to see headliners Wu-Tang Clan, 311 and NOFX. By most accounts, the crowd was about 2,000 smaller than the one at Mele '96. Explanations varied from the Breeders and Cardigans cancellations to the Maui Mele, held on Satur tles, seals and white sand beaches.

The service wants a successful ecotourism venture on Midway, but not at the cost of damaging a resourcethat includes a nesting area for the world's largest colony of Laysan albatrosses and the second-largest colony of black-footed albatrosses. Many other migratory seabirds also nest there. Lacking the budget to support so distant a refuge, the service developed an ecotourism tiny polyps living together and secreting a skeleton made of calcium carbonate. Growing, or farming, coral also benefits the ocean environment. That's because every piece of coral that is harvested from a farm for aquariums and fish tanks is one less piece that must be taken from the wild.

Scientists estimate that as much as 30 percent of the reefs worldwide are in danger because of pollution and other intrusions by humans. Carlson's farm is about to get bigger. Waikiki Aquarium, part of the University of Hawaii, has By Mike Gordon Advertiser Staff Writ er Four families were burned out of their Kalihi homes yesterday when a fire destroyed much of their apartment complex. All 11 people including two small children escaped unhurt. Three engines and two ladder trucks from the Kalihi and Kuakini stations responded to the 11:13 a.m.

alarm at 731 Bannister St. Even before they arrived, firefighters could tell the blaze was going to be bad. "It was pretty big by the time we got there," said Capt. Samuel Lee Loy of the Kalihi fire station. "We could see it from the station.

We saw a lot of smoke when were going down the street. Most of the complex was already affected on our initial approach," Three apartments were destroyed and one was severely damaged. Lee Loy said damage is estimated at $400,000. Richard AmboThe Honolulu Advertiser Matthew Adachi, 5, and his 212-year-old sister Shannon got as close as they could to offer some straw to a miniature donkey in the livestock tent of the 1997 Hawaii State Farm Fair yesterday. The fair runs through next Sunday at Aloha Stadium with a variety of exhibits and performances.

Midway mav offer more to do xiJLAv.i MAMJ mixin9 Midway Atoll lies near the end of the Northwestern Hawaiian Isl; Midway Atoll lies near the end of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, 1,250 miles from Honolulu. A lagoon 5 miles wide has two small islands, Eastern and Sand, with a total of 1,600 acres of land. The Navy declared the atoll surplus to its needs and conveyed it to the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1996. venture with a private firm tha would keep the airfield open and pay to support wildlife management. It opened up the atoll to visitors in mid-1996.

Even under the service's new public use plan, don't look for jetskis, parasailing, board-sailing or even regular board surfing. "Those are not primarily wildlife-dependent activities," said Fish and Wildlife public See Midway, Page B4 By Jan TenBruggencate Advertiser Kauai Bureau At the end of the first year of public use of the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service service is proposing a range of expanded activities. The service's challenge on Midway is how to expand ways people can interact with the remote atoll's wildlife without threatening the protection and recovery of Hawaii's most amazing array of seabirds, tur Nrth I Lisiansk, Kure Atoll Gardner Midway Pacific Ocean J. French Frigate Shoals Nihoa; 'AINA: CARING FOR CORAL Aquarium director finds slow harvesting of coral Kauai '0-Hawaii Advertiser graphic odic "pruning." The fragments generated by the pruning are made available to other public aquariums and researchers.

Nearly 20 percent of today's live coral trade is supplied through the captive propagation of coral. "Part of this project is to help people understand what corals and coral reefs are all about," Carlson said. "Even though this is truly an aquaculture project, it's out in the public area so folks can actually see how we do it and how it works." ISLAND VOICES "I like people, and I can learn from them. That's very important as police chief, I think." Honolulu police Chief Michael Nakamura, on his style of management. Nakamura is expected to retire from his post in the near future.

See story, pageAI. rewards in received a $20,000 grant from the Conservation Endowment Fund of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association to double the aquarium's coral farm facilities. The funds have allowed the aquarium to buy a tank, which it began installing last week, in which to grow a variety of corals. Construction is expected to be complete by September. The tank will be 15 feet long, 5 feet wide and 3 feet deep, with an 8-foot-long window through which the public can view the coral.

A graphics display will pro mote understanding of coral biology and the techniques required for raising corals in captivity, Carlson said. It's not as simple as plopping a piece of coral in sea water. Coral caretakers must make sure there is adequate water motion and sunlight and that the water is clean and low in nutrients. The water temperature must be between 72 and 82 degrees. Fish help control the growth of algae in the tank.

"We have to set up a whole community," Carlson said. Corals can grow 7 inches or more a year and require peri By Jean Christensen Advertiser Staff Writer Among the ways to pass the time, watching coral grow might seem to some as about as much fun as watching paint dry. But to Waikiki Aquarium Director Bruce Carlson, it's an exercise of love. Think of the more than 70 pieces of stony corals from Fiji, Solomon Islands, Palau, Guam and Hawaii at the aquarium as his pets. After all, he is quick to explain, corals are animals.

"They are colonies of animals," he said thousands of.