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SMITH: I don't know. He's really skinny, she's skinny. Thank you, all so much for your time.
<br />HALUCLARKSON: It's on. [Referring to mic.]
<br />SURPRENANT: It's on.
<br />FAY: It's on? Is it still on? I didn't turn it off? Okay. I'm Connie Fay, Constance Fay. I'm
<br />actually the president of the Ahualoa Community Association, and I had to laugh when Francine
<br />was talking. I'm also president of the Friends of the Honoka`a Library, and I had just come from
<br />a meeting where, you know, we try to give the library money so that they can buy DVD's and
<br />things that circulate. There's a lot that I know about this process. I was part of the first CDP
<br />group before this CDP group was developed way back in the distance past where we were
<br />talking about points of green and with the plan B shelved and not only was the plan we were
<br />working on shelved, it was supplanted by another process. And, a lot of us shrugged our
<br />shoulders and said, well, maybe this is out of our hands. And, I have touched in periodically,
<br />gone to meetings. I do have a feeling that some of it is out of our hands, and the thing I want to
<br />talk about tonight is something that's very personal.
<br />In 1974, a group of us came, and from the mainland, and bought a little piece of scrap land up in
<br />Ahualoa, useless land. Two intermittent gulches, it had been fenced to keep the cattle out so they
<br />wouldn't drown in the gulches. When the gulches run, they run really strong. This one gulch of
<br />ours is 50 feet deep at one point, and when we have 17 inches of rain like we just had, you would
<br />lose your cattle in there if they were happen to be in that gulch. They would drown. They would
<br />be swept down several waterfalls going on the way to the ocean.
<br />So, that land was never fully cleared, and it has climax `ohi`a forests. Very few of you have ever
<br />seen messic climax `ohi`a forest, and now I wouldn't invite you because I wouldn't want you to
<br />bring accidently Rapid Ohi` a Death. These trees are this big around and 90 feet tall. You cannot
<br />see them, though, because there's waivi. Then in 1850, somebody planted some eucalyptus, and
<br />then in 1910, some people, the Soares sisters, planted more eucalyptus. So, even though it's an
<br />incredibly special place, it doesn't fall under any of the categories that you would think would be
<br />protected as native forests.
<br />In 2002, I walked into a grant from the Fish & Wildlife, literally walked into it, and since then
<br />have been removing invasives and planting native plants, including rare plants. I have a permit
<br />from the Fish & Wildlife, from DOFAW.
<br />Recently, tax policy has changed. That taxI had up to last year been thought of as agriculture,
<br />and when I would say what I was doing, they would say it's okay you're doing agriculture. But,
<br />I'm not considered agriculture anymore. There's no specific code that covers the thing I've been
<br />doing for the last 16 years. I could do a dedicated native forest category, but you sign a contract
<br />for 20 years. Now, I'm 75 years old. I don't know what I'm going to be doing at 95, but maybe
<br />I won't be doing reforestation. And, that contract stipulates roll back taxes. So, I talked to my
<br />daughter, and she was like you can't sign this contract. She's a lawyer. She's like you can't do
<br />that. So, now, I am paying residential tax rate for basically an agricultural project that I've been
<br />doing for the last 16 years. I'm, and you wouldn't want to cut down all the eucalyptus to, you
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