The place we are staying, Paniolo Hale, is a sort of oasis here on the west side of Moloka’i. Because Karen did some digging, we found out this condo development was built in the 1980’s. That explains the fact that there are some really tall trees and great landscaping that is so well developed. Talking about palms, what we are guessing are banana trees, mimosa trees and more. The birdsong is just short of cacophonous, which I love!
Surrounding us however, is a more complicated story. Geocaching took me to a former golf course adjacent to us. Driving on the roads is a bit of a throwback to (of all places) Namibia, with arid landscapes and trees that look like acacias (but are actually another imported item, the kiawe tree.
And since one of my coworkers who was working on the big island (and covered Moloka’i as well) gave me the teaser of ‘look up water and Moloka’i’ I did. And boy oh boy.
First article was about how, finally in 2022, the state government ordered an outfit called Moloka’i Ranch to stop diverting 4 streams and allow them to flow as they had back 100 years ago. This was having significant impacts on birds, fish, vegetation, and more. Turns out that said Moloka’i Ranch was diverting 9 TIMES what it needs for its ranching (cattle I think) outfit.
Moloka’i Ranch took over from Dole Pineapple, or at least in one portion the west end. They own roughly 1/3 of the island and most of this on the west side, which is the dry side of the island. Back in the day (not sure how far back) they really poured money into developing this area with hotels, golf courses, restaurants and even a movie theater. This in addition to their cattle, goats. Tried to build a real destination spot. But they encountered a lot of local resistance because of the environmental impacts of their development. The golf course just adjacent to us? Closed abruptly in 2008 along with pretty much all of the other development, leaving everything denuded and barren. Now owned by a company in Singapore, which is trying to sell the whole enterprise, not really clear what part of it all is still in operation. All of which feels like a version of latter day colonial extracting of the resources and failing to give back to the community. Get in, pillage the land, then leave.
Don’t get me wrong, there are new properties with pricey fences and gates going up along the beach south of here, and many of these places have invested in plantings that seem to be bringing back vegetation. The local communities are trying to figure out ways to purchase the land so they can manage it themselves.
But the financial drivers of this area remain tricky. Tourism is low almost by Intent. Only one hotel on the island. The unemployment rate is the highest of the islands and that comes with associated high numbers of people who are living well below the poverty line.
One of the largest current employers? Another tricky topic. The sign may say Bayer, but it’s Monsanto, working on creating GMO seeds.
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