Army and Marine Corps live-fire training following World War II became so dangerous in Waikane Valley that they abandoned it four decades ago. Now the valley is in the first steps of being returned to its previous agricultural and cultural nature. At the forefront is a former Californian who bought part of the valley in a foreclosure, an outsider who has been embraced by his new neighbors. At the heart is how, despite the many demands on Hawaii’s land in this 21st century, there exists an encouraging example of how to keep the country country.

For decades, members of the Waiahole-Waikane Community Association have resisted tourist development projects, the U.S. military and a move to divert water, seeking to preserve the land and traditions of fishing and farming. People of the area have been known to camp out to occupy and defend their valley. Not this time.

Paul Zweng is “a breath of fresh air,” says John Reppun, executive director of the KEY Project, a community outreach center. He compares Zweng to “Indiana Jones leaping into a cave full of snakes or spiders.” Zweng’s goal is to restore the valley’s native forest, protect endangered birds, remove invasive trees and restore the valley’s koa forest within a decade. All quite ambitious, and admirable.

By all indications, Zweng, 55, born in Palo Alto, Calif., and now of Kailua, is proof that not all outsiders are enemies of most kamaaina or the aina. The Waiahole-Waikane Community Association and the Kahaluu Neighborhood Board have endorsed his company’s plans.

A geologist with a doctorate from Stanford, Zweng has loved the outdoors and its scientific aspects from the beginning, making a living by searching for copper and gold in places like Peru, Zambia and Mongolia. He took a graduate course in Hawaiian botany two years ago and memorized the scientific and Hawaiian names of hundreds of plants.

Zweng’s Ohulehule Forest Conservancy bought 1,444 acres — about the mauka half of Waikane Valley, including a former military training area — for $2.2 million in a foreclosure auction in December 2010. He expects most of its activities will not turn a profit, although his company is a for-profit corporation.

Zweng is pursuing federal and state grants toward restoring the native forest, and he plans to spend $600,000 in the first year of forest restoration. He hopes the small cacao farm he plans to start in the valley — the beans are used for chocolate — will eventually turn a profit to help fund conservation efforts. He hopes for permission to build a house on the land.

All this sounds wholly in line with the ideals of caring for the aina, local crop sustainability and community respect. It’s also a reminder that appreciation of  Hawaii’s land and country areas is not limited to simplistic “keep out” rhetoric, and that land-use tradeoffs are not always nefarious ones.

While previous plans for blanketing the fertile slopes of Waikane and Waiahole valleys above Kaneohe Bay with golf courses and houses were opposed, Zweng’s company has received local support, for good reason.

“Some folks have sort of an umbrella-drink fantasy about Hawaii and want to have their little slice of paradise,” Kahaluu Neighborhood Board chairman David Henkin told the Star-Advertiser’s Susan Essoyan. “They see it as a place, but it’s a community and a people.”

As for Zweng, he considers his expenditure for half a valley to be a great decision. “I think it’s the deal of the century,” he said. “I got this for the cost of a house in Kahala. What would you rather have? This or a house in Kahala?”