Be it ever so humble, Kalaeloa is home

In the vernacular of pidgin: Dis one classic case of "no pass back."

A proposed land deal involving the Navy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state Hawaii Community Development Authority is being thrown into limbo over a humble but endangered native shrub — the Ewa Plains akoko. What used to be some 5,000 plants in 1979 has dwindled to about 630 last year, with the akoko not found anywhere else on Earth except on 150-160 acres that used to be part of the old Barbers Point Naval Air Station.

The landowner Navy had hoped to convey the acreage to the HCDA, which in turn had hoped to foster a solar-energy farm there. But the existence of the akoko complicates matters with costly conservation mitigations, not to mention some questions of lingering lead contamination from the Navy’s previous use.

So doing the right thing by the endangered native species will be costly: "Let’s call it a million-dollar commitment," says the HCDA’s chief.

Indeed, going forward for someone will mean no pass back for another.

Long-distance voyaging the Hawaiian way

Great to hear that, once again, practitioners of old transportation technology have avid fans within the new transportation technology field — the sponsorship alliance between the Polynesian Voyaging Society and Hawaiian Airlines.

Hawaiian announced this week that it would provide tickets and baggage fees for the crew of the Hokule‘a, the society’s iconic canoe. The airline will fly relief crews in and out at various points in the society’s coming four-year world tour.

The seafaring journey, guided by seas, stars and nature’s other wayfinding signs, is set to begin a year from now, the first leg taking them to Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia.

Wonder if Hawaiian would toss in extra frequent-flyer mileage based on how far they sail? Sounds fair to us ordinary passenger types.