Strong Kauai Letter to the Editor Today

From: http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/11/14/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/doc491d40e15dbfe315254241.txt

"Wake up, Kaua‘i"

"I used to live on O‘ahu. I have seen the natural resources of that island stripped without concern for the future of the life and the ‘aina.

I saw groups of 10 or more people systematically dig out every native orchid and saleable plant into gunny sacks on their backs like a full-time job. This was done inside a park preserve.

Marine resources are basically gone on O‘ahu. It’s no surprise that environmental exploiters have been caught pillaging resources from Maui, to be sold in Honolulu, by way of the Superferry. Dump trucks full of beach stones, fish, limu, etcetera are being strip-mined from Maui. Invasive pests could easily be transported here and we need our farms protected from them.

Many Kauaians rely on catching fish to survive. Do you think crowds of fishermen joining you on the pier will allow you to still get enough to eat? Do you want carloads of surfers crowding out our surf spots along with overcrowded roads with hundreds of cars arriving each day? What about overcrowded parks, more homeless people and the ease of transporting more drugs like ice?

Now the whale season approaches. These poor creatures have already suffered sonar blastings, must they now run the risk of being run down like the Anini turtle that I knew for over 20 years.

Wake up, Kaua‘i. Once it is gone, it is lost forever.

What’s Koloa without its monkeypod trees? I hope our new mayor will have mercy on our environment and the lifestyle that is unique to Kaua‘i.

Please rethink bringing the Superferry back to Kaua‘i.

Ua mau ke ea o ka ‘aina e i ka pono o Hawai‘i."

• Celeste Harvel, Hanalei