LAND JOURNAL #2

 

No living man will see again the long-grass prairie, where a sea of prairie flowers lapped at the stirrups of the pioneer. We shall do well to find a forty here and there on which the prairie plants can be kept alive as species. There were a hundred such plants, many of exceptional beauty. Most of them are quite unknown to those who have inherited their domain.

— Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, p. 189

It would take a lifetime to list, even in these few places, the trees and flowers, the butterflies and fish, the small mammals, the kinds of deer and cats, the migratory and resident birds, and to say the most rudimentary things about their relationships, how they know and reflect each other.

This, along with the people we ignored, was a wealth that didn’t register until much of it was gone, or until, like the people, it was a tattered, diluted remnant, sequestered on a reservation.

— Barry Lopez, The Rediscovery of North America, p. 28-29

The local environmentalist John Kelly once commented that there is not a single foot of original shoreline between Pu’uloa and Maunalua (Pearl Harbor and Hawai’i Kai). Yet, some small un-bulldozed spots do remain here and there, especially in the undeveloped areas above the city. Many of the hiking trails we all enjoy, for example, are actually ancient trails that have continued in use. And of course, areas that contain wahi küpuna (Hawaiian archaeological sites) have not been changed, unless the sites have been rebuilt.

In one sense, every place has been changed because non-native plants have colonized almost every square foot, especially on O’ahu. For this assignment, though, look past the non-native plants and focus on locating a spot that has never been bulldozed. If you are unsure, make your best guess. And if you can somehow find a few square meters of original ground that also contains original plants, great! Give yourself ten extra points.

[Here’s a hint: the ti plant was introduced by Polynesians and can live for centuries. It does not self-propogate, which means that someone must have planted it where you find it (unless it is growing downslope from other plants.) Find some ti in the forest and you have found some original ground with its original plants.]

This assignment is a treasure hunt. Find a place that looks unchanged since pre-contact times and describe what you see, hear and smell.

 

ALTERNATE OPTION

Go for a hike in the uplands above your ’ili, into the nahele and kuahiwi. Describe what you see. Try to pin down the point when you begin to see more native plants and fewer invasive ones.

 

A FOCUS FOR LAND JOURNAL #2

Avoid
Fancy $2.00 words (domicile instead of house).
Include
Plain, clear nouns (house instead of domicile; car instead of automobile).

Turn in Assignment