Happy New Year!
December 29, 2018
MCR started off 2018 with major progress on the Reserve signage and picnic area, thanks to Scout Troop 270. Another Scout project is planned for 2019.
Hau`oli Makahiki Hou! As another year slides away, it’s good to ponder time, that most imponderable concept. In his 2010 book, Back to the Future in the Caves of Kaua`i, Dr. Burney talks about “time vertigo,” the experience of seeing the clear evidence of many time-scales simultaneously inside Makauwahi Cave. It’s all there: the cave’s rocks, nearly a half million years old; the cave itself, perhaps 100,000 or more; the sediments underfoot, thousands of years old; Hawaiian cultural evidence, many centuries; a tsunami deposit perhaps 1586 A.D.; 19th and 20th century impacts from overgrazing and cane farming near the surface; and the advent of research on the site in 1992.
That’s a lot of time to take in, but since then, a lot has happened in the effort to protect and restore this unique place. Here are some highlights:
- 2000: Discoveries from excavations lead to effort to protect and restore the cultural and biological features of the cave and its surroundings.
- 2004: Grove Farm offers a lease on the property to the Burneys. Larger scale native plant restorations begin.
- 2005-2012: Mel Gabel and other volunteers provide cave tours every Sunday. University field school programs flourish and native plant restorations expand to abandoned cane fields.
- 2012: Through efforts of the late Richard Segan, cave tours become available several days per week.
- 2013-2018: Visitation grows about 20% per year, to almost 50,000 annually, while education opportunities expand at all levels from kindergarten to postdoctoral.
- 2019: Now open every day, with extended weekend hours. Restorations, including part of adjacent limestone quarry, cover 25 acres.
You can help us make this the best year ever at MCR with your donations. Mahalo!