Mauna Kea Oral History Appendix - Office of Mauna Kea Management

HK: You can see how the soil, I guess the soil is right for that type of grass, and the weather.
You know, I had a crew to control the fountain grass by hand, with pick axe, and they
covered this hill.
KM: For real, all of Nohonaohae Iki
HK: Yes. Right now, the hill is covered with fountain grass.
KM: Yes.
HK: Prior to this, we had to comb the area on foot to look for any fountain grass.
KM: So, you folks had, in your younger time when you were overseeing this, you folks were
really trying to keep it out
HK: Yes.
KM: You had people out there picking, picking it or pulling it
HK: Yes.
KM: I guess on hills like this before, must have had a lot of ‘a‘ali‘i, köko‘olau like that
HK: Yes, köko‘olau on the big Nohonaohae Hill, lots of köko‘olau.
KM: On the Ke‘ämoku side
HK: Yes, Ke‘ämoku side. A range fire destroyed it to some extent.
KM: Yes. It takes everything ‘cause the fountain grass has so much fuel.
HK: Yes.
[Turning onto Saddle Road.]
KM: When it dries up. That’s the thing, we look now how beautiful everything is green, but boy
if we get dry like we were before.
HK: Yes.
KM: Just a fire waiting to happen.
HK: You can just imagine without the fountain grass, you can say that your carrying capacity
of cattle on the number of acres will be high.
KM: Yes.
HK: The number of animals per acre. But, with that type of grass in there, it cuts down the
production of the herd. You know, the carrying capacity of the pasture, to maybe about
one-third, that’s about it.
KM: You’re kidding! One-third of what you would have normally had with good grasses
HK: Yes, two-thirds, less.
KM: Ohh!
HK: Sure.
KM: This grass is just a no nutrient, no good value for the…
HK: No nutrients, yes.
KM: Wow!
HK:
And then of course due to the fact, you’re not going to find good grass. So, the cattle is
forced to eat the darn fountain grass. When they do eat, they don’t consume as readily
as you expect them to because they’re forced to eat. If they really eat it you know, I don’t
think the grass can spread so rapidly.
Mauna Kea– “Ka Piko Kaulana o ka ‘Äina”
Kumu Pono Associates LLC
A Collection of Oral History Interviews (HiMK67-050606) A:467