The Honolulu Advertiser from Honolulu, Hawaii • 13

a i It" The Honolulu Advertiser Hawaii mm '6 T. Monday October 12 1998 City Desk: 525-8090 Hawaiis Enviponiiieol1 JAN TENBRUGGENCATE Isle refuges putting out welcome mat mm mm Legislator says cattle could remove brush at Maalaea Maalaea land belongs to the state. The key to stopping brush fires from spreading, Souki said, is to keep dried grass from accumulating. State land manager Dean Uchida said he is investigating options for using cattle to help control the grass at Maalaea. But a lack of water at Maalaea may make it difficult to maintain a cattle herd, he said, and excessive grazing could cause erosion.

Souki, who has been a member of the Maui Cattlemen's Association, said he will meet with Maui cattle ranchers next week to discuss the possibility mary route between West Maui and Kahului. That highway was closed again this week for 12 hours after winds swept flames across the road near Papawai Point. While traffic was allowed between west and central Maui on the Kahakuloa Road, police limited it to one direction at a time because the road is narrow in some areas. "Fact is, this has been twicff in one year that West Maul as been literally cut off from the other side of the island-because there is no alternative' route to and from the other1 side," said Blundell, adding that federal funds could help develop alternative routes. Molokai this year.

Major brush fires near Kau-nakakai and at Maalaea broke out on lands that had not been grazed for years. Grass that sprouted during rainy periods became fuel for fires that threatened homes on Molokai and blocked a highway on Maui. While Molokai Ranch and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands own the pastures around Kaunakakai, the By Edwin Tanji Advertiser Maui County Bureau WAILUKU, Maui State Rep. Joe Souki said last week that the state ought to put cattle back on its pasture lands at Souki' said keeping cattle on land at least part of the year would keep grass down and help prevent the massive brush fires that have plagued Maui and Hawaii Pacific University's President Chatt Wright, in his office at the downtown campus, said moving most of the university's -operations to the Hawaii Loa campus in Kaneohe coufd "double or triple the academic plant." Wright hopes the move will begin within three to five years. Aaron Suozzi The Honolulu Advertiser I mm I imi; I Sri Tl W- I Hawaii has a world-class collection of national wildlife refuges on wetlands, coastal cliffs, atolls, mountainsides and more.

This week, National Wildlife Refuge Week, many of them are on public display. The James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge outside Kahuku on Oahu will hold a special tour from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday. Bird experts Phil Bruner, Pete Donaldson, Richard May, Mike Ord, Kurt Pohlman and Bob Pyle will participate. For reservations call the Oahu National Wildlife Refuge Complex at 637-6330.

The Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge on Kauai will hold a special evening opening starting at 5:30 p.m. Friday, during which visitors can hear the calls of the wedge-tailed shearwaters that nest there. The following day the staff will lead an 8 a.m. hike along the northernmost coast of Kauai, along Crater Hill from Kilauea Point to Mokolea Point. Call the refuge at 828-1413 for reservations.

Another Kauai refuge runs along the Huleia River outside Lihue, and the service has scheduled a kayak tour of Huleia National Wildlife Refuge Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon. For reservations call the Kilauea refuge number. Maui's Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge will have an open house Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon.

For more information call that refuge at 875-1582. Many of the refuges throughout the islands have regular opening hours1, some of which require reservations! For instance, Hakalaii Forest National Wildlife: Refuge, displays its waterbirds every Thursday, but you need to call for reservationsThe tours end Feb. 15 as the nesting season for the Hawaiian stilt begins, i The most remote of the Hawaiian national refuges is on Midway, near the far end of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is an experimental refuge, in that it's the first one where most functions are handled by a contractor, who pays the wildlife service for the privilege. The wildlife service uses the money to fund its own activities at the distant sanctuary.

Arrangements must be made to visit the Midway refuge, including flights and room reservations, through Midway Phoenix Corp. at 1-888-643-9291. Once there, you can take fishing or snorkeling tours with contractors or participate in activities arranged by Fish and Wildlife Service personnel, or do volunteer work with conservation organizations or the service. Midway Phoenix has donated nearly $300,000 to the refuge during the past year. Without it, "we couldn't keep our doors open to the public," Smith said.

Jan TenBruggencate is The Advertiser's Kauai bureau chief and its science and environment writer. You may call him at (808) 245-3074 or email tenbaloha.net. seeks to expand awau'ifacinc of having ranchers work with state land officials to provide cattle for brush control in critical pasture areas. He noted that on Molokai the state funded a slaughterhouse that could encourage residents to keep cattle that would keep the grass down. Meanwhile, Brian Blundell, a Republican seeking the 7th District House seat representing West Maui, Molokai and Lanai, criticized the state for failing to provide an alternative roadway for West Maui.

A June brush fire around McGregor's Point forced Maui police to block traffic on the Honoapiilani Highway, the pri- i students take classes at the Hawaii Loa campus, which wasf founded in 1963 as Hawaii Loa College. HPU President Chatt Wright said the university is revising its strategic plan and hopes to start making the move in the next three to five years. The amount of money needed for the expansion will not be determined until the plan is completed, he said. "The Hawaii Loa campus would become the residential centerpiece of the Hawaii Pa- See Campus, Page B2 used in Australia and Alaska to protect seabirds from being killed when they grab baited hooks from fishing vessels. The policy-making agency for U.S.-controlled ocean areas has initiated projects to assess and protect black-footed and Laysan albatross populations, the majority of which nest in VOTE writing proper resumes and scholarship applications." "Vocational technology provides excellent real world experiences." "Internship programs provided by some schools are valuable experiences." "All school subjects provide necessary skills and applications." "It is primarily self-motivation that gets students to prepare for their own future." But students have also seen shortcomings and opportunities in the system.

In 1995 the state student conference called for integration of 1 Most downtown classes would shift to campus of double size in Kaneohe was operating at capacity, Hawaii Pacific University is the state's largest prjvate university, offering courses at its two campuses and on military bases. The school, whose 8,400 students come from across the nation and 87 countries, offers 37 majors; plus eight associate and five graduate degrees. Its annual budget is $64 million. About 5,300 students are enrolled at HPU's main campus, and there are about 280 full-time faculty and 400 full-time staff. About 3,000 HPU By Curtis Lum Advertiser Windward Oahu Bureau Hawaii Pacific University's Hawaii Loa campus is hidden behind tall pine trees and lush greenery, but if school officials have their way, it will have a much larger presence in Windward Oahu and in Hawaii.

The university is working on plans to relocate most of Maui's fair site frustrates residents 1 By Edwin Tanji Advertiser Maui County Bureau WAILUKU, Maui Amy Au was exasperated. A week before the Maui County Fair earlier this month; parking stalls in front of the Wailuku War Memorial com plex were jammed with fair booths and tents. "They took all the handicapped stalls, put booths in them," she said as she rushed from the county vehicle registration office to her car, where a disabled passenger was waiting. "I'm parked illegally now. Such problems have been common for 10 years.

Ever since the old Kahului Fairground shut down in 1988, the Maui County Fair has taken place at the War Memorial. Each time, it and a four-day Jaycees Carnival have shut down an access road to Baldwin High School, interfered with county licensing and permitting offices, closed down parks facilities and created traffic jams on the road to Maui Memorial Hospital. Maui County is planning to build a new fairground on 151 acres of state land at the old Puunene airport. The state Board of Land Natural Resources approved a right of entry to the site two weeks ago. Despite the prospect of years of planning and development, many Maui residents await the opening of the new site.

See Maui, Page B2 the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Long-line fishing vessels set out thousands of baited hooks attached to lines several miles long. "Once birds grab the bait, they go down," said Mark Mitsuyasu, the council's pro-See Albatross, Page B4 academic and vocational instruction. The next year the same group called for more funding for classes geared toward Hawaii's economy and toward environmental industries here. Early this year, Leeward Oahu secondary students attending a conference urged that all secondary schools have a career resource center, based on strong student support for the center at Waianae High School.

Tomorrow: Kids Voting question No. 2. "Should juveniles be tried as adults for adult crimes?" 1 its downtown, campus to Kaneohe, a move that would require new classrooms and, i faculty offices, a larger library, more computer centers and an expansion of a 210-bed dormitory. Currently the campus occupies only a fraction of its sprawling 135-acre Kaneohe property. Until recently growth was limited by the city's sewer system, which acts, such as in Samuel Cole- ridge's' "The Rime of the Ancient hi which an albatross was killed with a crossbow.

In the early 1900s, 5 million of the birds died as a result of Japan's feather trade. Now concern is growing for the black-footed protected under the U.S. Mi- Fishery organization moves to end killing of albatross grafory Bird Act, and directed at, Hawaii's 110-vessel, longtime fishing fleeti: and other commercial fishing. The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council met last week with seabird authorities from Japan, South Africa and Australia to explore techniques COMMUNITY ISSUES: YOUTH children if school is preparing them for job market By Bnnky Bakntis Advertiser Leeward Oahu Bureau The ocean has been a killing field for albatross the largest of seabirds that often glide in the wake of fishing vessels on 7-foot wing spans searching for food. Some are killed in senseless Ballot asks Editor's Note: When Hawaii voters go to the polls Nov.

3, they wiU find young students casting their own ballots on mock measures created by the Kids Voting Hawaii project. Students in grades six through 12 are discussing the ballot questions in their classrooms, and a series of articles on each question will appear here daily: By Walter Wright Advertiser Staff Writer School Board Member Lex Brodie set the agenda for the first question on the Kids Voting ballot two years ago when ISLAND VOICES "We thought we were all going to die heading up Suicide Hill, so we went all out." World War II veteran Barney Hajlro, recalling his service in combat. Many say Hajiro and his comrades in arms never received the full recognition their heroism deserved. Sea story, page A1. II I he ran a series of advertisements asking Hawaii employers if they thought public school graduates were prepared for the job market.

Ninety-two percent of 250 employers said no. The survey may not have been scientific, but it hit a nerve and fueled Brodie's campaign for more "social skills" instruction in the curriculum. The first question that will appear on the Kids Voting ballot is, "Do you feel that school is preparing you for the future?" The same question was put to members of the State Stu- dent Council last week. Responses: "School-to-Work is a valuable program that helps students prepare for the future in terms of acquiring jobs." "English classes really emphasize the importance in i.wjjun'.'l-'UT "ill ii i i.