|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
| Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, with Mauna Kea in background. © Phil Spalding III |
On May 10, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar presented the Partners In Conservation Award — one of the Department of the Interior’s highest conservation achievement awards — to the Three Mountain Alliance (TMA) of the island of Hawai’i.
The award was established to honor the contributions of both Interior and non-Interior personnel, and to recognize outstanding conservation results produced primarily because of the engagement of many partners.
The partnership of public and private landowners was created to protect watersheds and natural resources across more than 1 million acres on Mauna Loa, Kilauea and Hualalai on the island of Hawai’i.
TMA partners include Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, US Fish and Wildlife Service, USGS Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center, State of Hawai'i Department of Land and Natural Resources and Department of Public Safety, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and Forest Service, Kamehameha Schools, and The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i.
Other contributors include the Hawaiian Silversword Foundation and the University of Hawai'i Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit.
 |
| TMA Partnership Coordinator Tanya Rubenstein with critically endangered Cyanea stictophylla, one of a hundred native haha propagated and outplanted in native rain forest. © National Park Service |
"Their achievements exemplify excellence in conservation through partnerships and cooperation with others," said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. "They are an inspiration to us all, and we are grateful for their efforts. They share a deep commitment to conservation and community."
Salazar presented the award in a ceremony in Washington DC, attended by representatives from the Conservancy, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, USGS and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Park Superintendent Cindy Orlando stressed that partnerships such as the Three Mountain Alliance are the most effective way to share scarce staff and resources to accomplish joint objectives and address common threats like invasive species across land ownership boundaries.
"At Hawai'i Volcanoes, we can't do it alone," Orlando said. "It takes each and every one of us to join together and care for the land, a philosophy epitomized by the Three Mountain Alliance."
The partners collaborate closely together to achieve landscape-scale protection of native habitat and rare and endangered species, forest restoration, weed control, and to conduct education and outreach.
Join The Nature Conservancy on