It was an ordinary day. Talking with my wife about traveling to the island of Hawaii one more time. We have been to the island of Hawaii three times while traveling with our friends Jere and Sue. Each visit took us to various locations in Hawaii with trips all three times to one of my favorite islands known as Lahaina. It was back in August of 2023 that a deadly wildfire swept through the town of Lahaina on Maui. Flames scorched the 151-year old banyan tree that sat along the historic town's Front Street. The banyan tree is the oldest living one on Maui, but is not a species indigenous to the Hawaiian islands. India shipped the tree as a gift to commmemorate the 50th anniverary of the arrival of the first Protestant missionaries to live in Lahaina. It was planted in 1873, a quarter century before the Hawaiian islands became a U.S. territory and seven decades after King Kamehameha declared Lahaina the capital of his kingdom. The tree is widely beloved and fondly remembered by millions of tourists who have visited Maui over the years. Carol and I, along with our friends Jere and Sue were a few of those tourists. For generations, the banyan tree served as a gathering place along Lahaina's waterfront. By many accounts, it was the heart of the oceanside community -- towering more than 60 feet and anchored by multiple trunks that span nearly an acre. The enormous tree has leafy branches that unfurl majestically and offer shade from the sun. Aerial roots dangle from its boughs and eventually latch onto the soil to become new trunks. Branches splay out widely, and have become roosting places for choirs of birds. The 2023 fire charred the tree and blackened many of its leaves. But it wasn't the flames so much as the intense heat that dried out much of the tree, according to Duane Sparkman, chair of the Maui County Arborist Committee. As a result of this loss of moisture, about half of the tree's branches died, he said. "Once that section of the tree desiccated, there was no coming back," he said. But, other parts of the tree are now growing back healthy. Those working to restore the tree removed the dead branches so that the tree's energy would go toward the branches that were alive. To monitor that energy, 14 sensors were screwed into the tree to track flows of cambium, or sap, through its branches. "It's basically a heat monitor," Sparkman said. A planned irrigation system also will feed small drops of water into the tubes. The goal is to help those aerial roots "bulk up and become the next stabilizer root." The system will also irrigate the surrounding land and the tree's canopy. "You can see a lot of long, long branches with hundreds of leaves back on the tree," Sparkman said, adding that some branches are even producing fruit. Sparkman estimates that Lahaina lost some 25,000 trees in the fire. These included the fruit trees that people grew in their yards as well as trees that are significant in Hawaiian culture, such as the ulu or breadfruit tree; the fire charred all but two of the dozen or so that remained. Since the blaze, a band of arborists, farmers and landscapers - including Sparkman - has set about trying to save the ulu and other culturally important trees. To help restore Lahaina's trees, Sparkman founded a nonprofit called Treecovery. The group has potted some 3,500 trees, he said, growing them in "micro-nurseries" across the island, including at some hotels, until people can move back into their homes. I only hope it will grow back to the size that I remember it to be years ago. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - my photo aren't the best since I never took a photo of them while on the island and the photos from the newspaper were not very good.
This photograph was posted in the newspaper. It shows a view
of the Banyan Tree after a deadly wildfire swept through the town.
The historic tree is at the top center of the photographThis photograph shows the new leaves now sprouting from the
historic Lahaina Banyan tree in Lahaina, Hawaii.
No comments:
Post a Comment