The Conservation Fund works with the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and private landowners to protect some of Hawaii's most treasured coastal and mountain landscapes.
Kaupo Gap, Maui/Photo: Conor Dupre-Neary
The National Park Service requested our assistance in acquiring the 3,900 acre Nu’u Ranch within Haleakala National Park on Maui, the largest undeveloped parcel in private ownership in the park. The property has almost a mile of frontage on the Pacific Ocean and rises over 6,000 feet to the rim of the Haleakala Crater.
Significant portions of the property are also within the Kahikunui Forest Reserve with remnants of the biologically diverse koa forest ecosystem that once dominated the island providing critical habitat for the rare po’ouli bird and Maui parrotbill. Lower elevations have intact, dry wiliwili forests, habitat for the endangered Blackburn’s sphinx moth and Hawaiian hoary bat. Now protected, the property also has three recorded ancient Hawaiian temples, also called heiau.
Haleakala National Park located on the island of Maui, is administered by the National Park Service. The park preserves Haleakala Volcano, fragile native Hawaiian ecosystems, rare and endangered species, and numerous cultural sites in perpetuity. The park extends from the Kipahulu area at sea level to 10,023 feet in elevation at the Summit. It includes 30,183 acres, of which 24,719 acres are designated wilderness. The park preserves and protects a valuable part of our nation’s heritage and makes it available to approximately 1.7 million visitors each year for their enjoyment, understanding, and appreciation.
Photo: Jon Degenhardt/Flickr
Click here for the January 2008 News Release, "The Conservation Fund And Partners Protect More Than A Half Mile of Maui's Coastline."