4 description of the human environment, potential ... - Lee Altenberg

Final Environmental Impact Statement
During the time of Kamehameha the Great, large quantities of sandalwood were harvested
from mauka areas (Kula, Makawao, and Haleakalä) and loaded at Mäkena.
Kamehameha
king Kalanikupule (Sterling 1998). Afterwards, the fishponds of Kalepolepo and Kö
were rebuilt.
sweet potato, sugar cane, and ranching were key activities of the region. The
(common people) worked the land under the direction of the konohiki and occasionally
the would drop by enroute to Kaupö, where most of the activities of the chiefs took
place.
In post-contact times, Mäkena Landing became the second busiest port after Lahaina since
cattle and agricultural products from the mauka lands were brought here to load, and the
port received goods for residents throughout Central Maui.
settlement patterns underwent major changes throughout the region and the entire island
with: 1) the advent of cattle and commercial agricultural enterprises; 2) the introduction of
the western concept of private ownership of land; and 3) the development of cart paths,
roadways, and harbors.
Following the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, Handy (1940) reported the following
changes in the area due to cattle ranching:
In Honuaula, as in Kaupo and Kahikinui, the forest zone was much lower and
rain more abundant before the introduction of cattle. The usual forest-zone
plants were cultivated in the lower upland above the inhabited area. Despite
two recent (geologically speaking) lava flows which erupted from fissures
below the crater and only a few miles inland and which covered many square
miles of land, the eastern and coastal portion of Honuaula was thickly
populated by Hawaiian planters until recent years. A few houses are still
standing at Kanaio where the upper road (travelling eastward) ends but only
two are now occupied. A number of Hawaiian families whose men are
employed at Ulupalakua Ranch have homes near the ranch house. Above
these native homes a little dry taro is cultivated. Formerly, there was much dry
taro in the forest zone.
Cattle and
goats stripped the land of its native flora while destroying ancient Hawaiian temples and
other traditional Hawaiian remains
4.2.2 Ahupuaa within the Honuaula Property
The Honuaÿula Property includes portions of three ahupuaa: Paeahu, Palauea, and
Keauhou from north to south. Most of the northern two-thirds of the Property is within a
section of Paeahu ahupuaÿa. Roughly half of the width of Palauea ahupuaÿa is within the
Honuaÿula Property, with the remainder extending north. The entire width of Palauea
ahupuaÿa is within the Honuaÿula Property, primarily within the southern third of the
CHAPTER 4 DESCRIPTION OF THE HUMAN ENVIRONMENT, POTENTIAL IMPACTS, AND MITIGATION MEASURES
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