With the chirping songs of the oma‘o singing overhead, Jane, 80, and Paul Fields, 77, recently enjoyed another day of lopping ginger and learning about the forest in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
On a recent Friday, the Fields gathered a group of four volunteers and took them through the forest to cut invasive ginger that has subsided over time, but is still prominent.
The Fields have been longtime volunteers at national park and have spent most of their retirement tending to the forests, battling invasive species, and giving native species room to grow.
The Fields are the organizers of Stewardship at the Summit, a HVNP program that allows volunteers to help out the park and the ‘aina by cutting invasive Himalayan ginger on park trails.
The duo has been doing it consistently for 10 years.
“We’re here every week unless we’re traveling or the park cancels programs that day,” Paul Fields said. “We bought a house in Volcano 40 some odd years ago and rented it out until we were ready to retire. We fell in love with this area and knew we needed to be here in our retirement.”
Both of the Fields have been in Hawaii for 50 years and lived on Oahu when they worked. Paul Fields was a history professor at Windward Community College and Jane Fields ran a dental practice front office.
The pair always knew they wanted to play in the forest, but weren’t sure how it would work. After learning they could make a difference by getting rid of invasive species, their fun mission began.
“When they found out we would be serious volunteers, they taught us how to interpret to visitors and successfully cut the plants,” Jane Fields said. “We learned most of the knowledge from biologists and scientists in the park, and were then able to develop the Stewardship at the Summit program.”
While the Fields have regulars join them for most weeks, they also frequently meet new people who may be visiting the Big Island on vacation, which is one of their favorite parts about the work.
“We have a family that volunteered with us about nine years ago on their honeymoon. We heard from them six years later when they decided to come back with their twin boys,” Paul Fields said. “The love for the forest keeps us going, but it is also the people we meet along the way, they are so great.”
According to HVNP spokeswoman Jessica Ferracane, invasive species might overrun the park’s forests if it weren’t for dedicated volunteers.
“Paul and Jane are a remarkable couple who thrive on giving back to the community and ‘aina that they love,” Ferracane said. “They are tireless in their dedication to protect Hawaiian rainforest, and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is extraordinarily lucky and grateful to have them leading the Stewardship at the Summit program.”
Michael Leidemann has been volunteering with the Fields for a while and loves helping the forest and the couple in their mission.
“I come out here whenever I can, I mean it’s a great excuse to get out into the forest and contribute,” Leidemann said. “Paul and Jane were some of the first people I met here when I moved during COVID-19. They are so nice and dedicated to what they are doing, and I wanted to come help them.”
While ginger and other invasive species quickly come back, and the work is never done, the Fields have seen drastic changes to the areas of the forest in which they have worked.
“The mandate of the park is to protect and preserve the natural plants and cultural customs. The threat ginger poses could cause the ohia and native birds to disappear,” Jane Fields said. “This helps the forest regenerate itself, and we see it happening before our eyes. It is rewarding work.”
Paul Fields was excited to hear an oma‘o (Hawaiian thrush) because it’s important to forest growth. Unlike the ‘i‘iwi (Hawaiian honeycreeper), the oma‘o is a fruit-eating bird that carries the seeds of native plants naturally.
“The forest itself is has been enough of an award. We fell in love with Volcano before we fell in love with each other, and now we can play in the forest like we always planned,” Paul Fields said. “Cutting ginger wasn’t the plan, but being here was. We have fun and make a difference.
“When this stops being fun, we’ll stop, but I don’t see it happening anytime soon.”
More information about the Stewardship at the Summit program can be found at tinyurl.com/4xwj2uka.
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
