MAUNA KEA — More than 7,000 feet up the mountain, the last trace of the endangered palila sing to one another from their perches atop mamane trees, blissfully unaware of the fragility now surrounding every member of their dwindling species.
More than a mile below, kamaaina and visitors go about their business, many of them only slightly more cognizant of the plight facing the some 1,900, yellow-headed honeycreepers clinging to existence above.
But the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the American Bird Conservancy and the Mauna Kea Forest Restoration Project have taken steps to bridge that disconnect by way of the Palila Forest Discovery Trail — a one-mile, interpretative loop trail located in the game management area of Kaohe, which falls within the boundaries of the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve.
“People don’t understand and know about the birds,” said Dr. Chris Farmer, Hawaii program manager for the American Bird Conservancy. “Us trying to save them and justifying the effort it’s going to take to save them is extremely difficult.”
And that’s exactly the purpose of the trail, to connect people and palila, and through engagement inspire volunteerism to help the birds not only maintain, but prosper amid peril from feral cats, mongooses and browsing animals that threaten the mamane tree — palila’s primary food source.
Jackson Bauer, Hawaii Island Na Ala Hele Trails and Access Specialist for the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife, used to conduct informal tours of the area for volunteers helping restoration outplantings in the 1,400-acre Kaohe Restoration Area.
“The natural evolution was how do you actually get people here?” Bauer said. “We had done (those tours) so many times, and this is kind of what makes it. People, as soon as they see the bird, they get it. So we thought, “What if we made it into a formal trail?’”
It took several years organizing policy, environmental and archaeological assessments, and discussions with biologists as well as state officials before ground could be broken.
But after receiving a $24,000 grant from the Laura Jane Musser Fund along with an outpouring of volunteerism from local environmental activists, the trail came together with uncanny speed.
“The actual construction happened in a day,” Bauer said. “We had some guys with weed whackers, some guys grading the trail, and by the time I turned around, it was done. It’s amazing what you can do with many hands.”
Although many hands contributed to the realization of the trail, it’s been a goal of the project’s organizers from the beginning to keep the human fingerprint on the palila habitat minimal.
Extensive discussion went into deciding the precise trail site, which was ultimately constructed in a part of the habitat already somewhat disturbed by browsing animals and human traffic. Bulldozing and tree cutting proved unnecessary.
“We chose areas pretty heavily impacted as opposed to virgin forests,” Bauer explained. “We didn’t want to bring people up there.”
A boot brush-and-rinse station is set up at the trail’s entry point to mitigate invasive species transportation by trailgoers to the site.
The land, located near Puu Laau and four miles from the Kilohana Hunter Check Station off Old Saddle Road, is only accessible by 4-wheel drive vehicles. The bumpy, winding path up R1 will thin the human herd while at the same time providing palila access, as well as access to other native species, for those determined enough to traverse their way up the mountain.
“You always get a little weary when you create something that is so public and you have a lot more people who can access it,” said Chauncey Kala Asing, Mauna Kea Forest Restoration project coordinator. “But this area was already open to the public.”
Manuel Jadulang, who teaches agriculture to high school students at Honokaa High School, has taken his classes on several nature trips to plant and make trail. He brought his sons Brayden and Brent, as well as their friend Keyan Kunishige, to the trail’s grand opening Wednesday to survey it as a possible site for future field trips.
“I wanted them to see, and to take care and be more aware of the environment,” Jadulang said.
Donna Goodale, who formerly taught middle school students at the now-closed Hualalai Academy, said she’d brought a group of students to the game management area of Kaohe eight years ago. She remembered the process as time and labor intensive — contacting the state, filling out paperwork, checking out hunting schedules.
She sees this new trail as a blessing.
“It was a lot more difficult than just having a trail that is open to the public at all times,” Goodale said.
The trail is accessible at all hours of the day, but camping is not allowed and Bauer said visitors are advised to make use of the trail during daylight hours.
Amber Stillman, who works with the Office of Mauna Kea Management Natural Resource Program, ventured up the mountain to enjoy the day with her co-workers Darcy Yogi and Koa Akima.
“We came over when it was first starting, so it’s nice to see the end product,” Stillman said. “We work on the mountain too, so we wanted to come check out and see, get some ideas, and get some inspiration.”