LIHU‘E — The County of Kaua‘i is receiving $78,000 in federal funds as part of a $197 million nationwide effort to mitigate wildfire risks in the midst of an ongoing wildfire crisis.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service selected 100 communities — split between 22 states and seven native tribes — to receive funding through its Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program. The agency selected communities determined to have the greatest need, prioritizing areas impacted by severe disaster, areas with high or very high wildfire hazard potential, and communities classified as low income.
In total, Hawai‘i will receive $416,800 from the grant program in order to update Community Wildfire Protection Plans, allowing communities to better protect themselves against wildfire threats. The Kaua‘i Fire Department will receive $78,000 to complete the task, while the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife will split the remaining $338,800 evenly between Hawai‘i Island’s Oceanview, Ka‘u, Northwest Hawai‘i and South Kona communities.
“The development of (Community Wildfire Protection Plans) is a critical component of the process for communities to identify, and then protect themselves from the destruction of wildfires,” said Elizabeth Pickett, co-executive director of Hawai‘i Wildfire Management Organization, a nonprofit organization working with DOFAW to conduct wildfire hazard assessments.
In all five selected communities, funds will go toward completing hazard assessments, identifying shared wildfire concerns and prioritizing risk-reducing actions to limit the potential for wildfires to start.
Parched in the Pacific
As the western mainland’s driest megadrought in at least 1,200 years fuels its historic wildfire crisis, the Aloha State has seen its own uniquely dry period recently.
While much of Hawai‘i has been in a notably strong wet season since late January, nearly one-third of land on the islands experienced moderate, severe, extreme or exceptional drought as recently as late November 2022, according to the federal government’s Drought Monitor.
Because of this exceptionally dry span — which began last summer — the National Weather Service announced a red flag warning on leeward areas of all the islands on Nov. 21, the first such warning in Hawai‘i since 2012.
Earlier in August 2022, the Leilani Fire burned approximately 17,000 acres of Hawai‘i Island, scorching state and Pohakuloa Training Area lands before being put out by firefighters.
As recently as Jan. 24, the Drought Monitor showed 100 percent of the state experiencing “abnormally dry” conditions or worse, although two months of intense rainfall — which broke monthly records in several Kaua‘i locations — have helped to resaturate the dehydrated air and land.
But as climate change increases the severity of weather swings across the globe, USDA and DLNR officials hope that helping communities update their protection plans will allow them to better adapt to future wildfire concerns.
“The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife will assist these communities in updating their plans,” said DOFAW State Protection Forester Mike Walker. “As we experience climate change, we’re seeing year-round wildfire activity in Hawai‘i.”
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Jackson Healy, reporter, can be reached at 808-647-4966 or jhealy@thegardenisland.com.
