Native Plant Restoration after the Kalaupapa Fire at Puʻukoholā Heiau

The Kalaupapa Fire started on January 9, 2020, and burned just over 20 acres of Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site. Small as it was, it badly damaged both major and minor Park Service facilities, as well as natural and cultural resources.

The park

Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site lies on the west side of Hawaiʻi Island, the Big Island. It is known for its cultural resources, including two large temples, or heiau, and for the many events there that shaped the history of Hawaiʻi and the founding of the Hawaiian Kingdom. The Park Service works to preserve those resources, collaborate with the Hawaiian community, and protect the site's natural resources.

Puʻukoholā Heiau from the battlefield area. The green strips downslope of the heiau (makai, toward the ocean) are pili plantings funded by burned area response. NPS.

Pili grass

The park's restoration centres on pili grass (Heteropogon contortus), planted to rehabilitate the cultural landscape.

• 2020 — emergency stabilisation. Burned area emergency response and emergency stabilisation work focused on saving existing plantings and the on-site nurseries. It was completed in fiscal year 2020 and made the follow-on burned area response work possible.
• 2021 — more pili. Burned area response now aims to increase the number and density of pili across the park. In fiscal year 2021, more than 1,100 more pili seedlings were planted along Puʻukoholā Heiau, grown in the restored nursery and watered through newly repaired drip lines.

A fire-resistant buffer

Also in fiscal year 2021, the ground around the comfort station — badly damaged in the fire and since repaired — was replanted. Seventy-five low-growing, low-flammability native plants went in as a buffer around the building, and several thousand seeds of the same species were scattered nearby, to lower the risk of damage from future fires.

Staff planted low-growing, low-flammability native species around the repaired comfort station. NPS.

Naio papa (Myoporum sandwicense) planted near the repaired comfort station. NPS.

What it shows

These results show why treatments need funding over several years — to make sure plantings take hold, and to let the park adapt by planting climate-resilient species near its buildings.

Sources

• National Park Service, Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site, Native Plant Restoration.