Waching daily Feb 1 2019

From Imagineers using human bones on projects to foolish mortals doing foolish things,

Disney parks are host to plenty of…ghosts?

Discover the REAL stories of spirits and souls trapped in the Happiest Place on Earth today

on Cool Stuff Strange Things.

Now, I'm not talking Zero or the Haunted Mansion's hitchhikers—this is Ripley's.

When we say REAL we mean REAL.

That's not to say there aren't plenty of ghost stories that have made themselves

part of Disney lore, but we are here to uncover what we know to be true.

The truth is stranger than fiction, after all.

Let's take it back to 1967 when Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean ride first opened.

Disney Imagineers creating the ride thought the prop skeletons used were not realistic

enough for riders to suspend disbelief.

Instead of taking an airbrush and some sandpaper to those scallywag skeletons, they opted for

REAL ones instead.

Yes, human remains were sourced from UCLA's medical school and placed inside the ride.

Eventually, as prop shop technology improved, a new generation of Imagineers replaced the

real with replica.

A former Disney producer even insists that the human remains were returned to their countries

of origin and given proper burials.

But, many believe some remains remain—pointing to the skull and crossbones adorning the headboard

at the beginning of the ride.

Disney's Haunted Mansion has long advertised itself as home to 999 happy haunts, with room

for one more (muwhahaha), but some guests take this way too seriously…

The urban legend that some people have scattered the ashes of their loved ones at Disney parks

is actually much truer than we think, and it happens so often that the employees have

a specific code word for it: HEPA cleanup.

Yes, the employees have to call it this in order to maintain the smiley status quo of

the park, just like they use the phrases "Code U" and "Code V" to refer to urine and

vomit cleanups, respectively.

However, while most guests might expect the latter two issues to occur at the park, many

have no idea of the sheer VOLUME of human ashes lurking around Disney.

The Wall Street Journal recently blew the lid off this story by talking to former custodians

of both parks as well as people who claimed to have spread ashes of loved ones at

Disney World or Disneyland.

One woman said she stashed her mother's ashes in a pill bottle while others explained

it was extremely easy to sneak human remains through the bag check line in a camera case,

a compact, or other unassuming containers.

Employees have said this happens at least once a month, which is a much higher rate

than once believed.

Apparently, some of the most popular locations to scatter ashes are among the bushes and

flowers, on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, in the pond beneath Dumbo, and by far, on

the Haunted Mansion.

The Journal claims the custodians at Disney parks know what human ashes look like and

can easily spot them.

Finally, the term HEPA cleanup refers to the type of attachment used for sucking up the

ashes into a vacuum.

The HEPA attachment focuses on ultrafine particles, like ashes, and then the remains are transferred

to the trash.

Exactly how many human ashes remain at the Disney parks today?

It's impossible to ever know.

If Disney perpetuates a tale, does that make it true?

It is said that Walt himself haunts his former apartment, right above the firehouse on Main Street.

For that very reason (or as a tribute), the light is always kept on in the apartment's

front window.

Apparently, one night, a cast member came in to dust and turned off the lights when

she left; however, when she came back, the light had turned on again.

The light in the window has reportedly been left on ever since.

Walt Disney created a theme park like no other—who wouldn't want to spend eternity there?

I'm Sabrina Sieck and I'll be back next week with more Cool Stuff and Strange Things.

For more infomation >> Trading Urns For Vacuums In The Afterlife At Disney - Duration: 3:48.

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Graduate Programs for the Working Professional - Duration: 0:33.

Webster University offers what you need to move your career forward.

A non-profit institution committed to helping you move from where you are in your career

to where you want to be.

If you've got the will, we'll find the way.

I chose Webster for it's reputation, the classroom sizes were small, the excellent faculty, the

location made it very easy for me to go to right after work.

Webster will take you from where you are to where you want to be.

Enroll today.

For more infomation >> Graduate Programs for the Working Professional - Duration: 0:33.

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FORESTS FOR LIFE, Seg #8 THE FOREST HELPERS - Duration: 6:22.

What can you do to help our forests for life and the water we drink? Really it's

just a matter of awareness and perhaps changing your habits or behavior a touch.

For now Hawaii's fresh water supplies are secure. But it may not always be that

way. We often have droughts which can seriously tax how much water is

available. Beyond not wasting water today or tomorrow, it's about remembering that

what we do on land affects the ocean. What we do up high in the mountains,

across our agricultural plains, and even in our own backyards impacts everything

down below. This is something more and more people are learning and embracing.

Which makes it really easy to identify but it also has a lot of these like

really nasty little pokies on here so I'm gonna pass this one around. We are

located right now in the Pahole Natural Area Reserve at a site we like to call

the Makua rim or the overlook site and so today we have a group of volunteers

helping us weed out one of our restoration sites. If you look around

we've got lots of native and non-native plants and so they're an essential part

of our workforce in trying to maintain watershed quality as well as maintain

biodiversity our native forests. Almost every single day you can find staff and

volunteers out working in the forest. They spray weeds and yank invasive

plants out of the ground. They plant native ones. They learn the ways of the

woods. Volunteers are really crucial for our program, we have so much areas and we

have a limited amount of staff, being the state and so as we start to grow and as

we start to really get into our priority areas and even areas around that we find

it really useful to have all this volunteer labor. Their motivations for

helping native forests recover and thrive vary. Some folks hiker hunt and

want to be sure they can continue having fun in Hawaii's unique and beautiful

native forests. Sometimes people volunteer for a day, or

two. Others sign up for five or six or seven days, working in remote places. Many

others make volunteering in the forest constant in their lives. They all get

something different from the experience. Oh my gosh, your body calms down, you

become peaceful, you become happy. I like to do it because it's beautiful. The Hawaiian

forest is beautiful. Beyond individual volunteers there are countless community

groups and companies like Coca-Cola that donate time, money and labor to give

native forests a helping hand. In one of Oahu's most important and productive

watersheds Coca-Cola helps build fences. Fencing projects that the state

undertakes are usually pretty expensive, so we rely on partners that include

state money from the state legislature, we have some Board of Water Supply money

dedicated to this project as well as funding from Coca-Cola company. That

being said, we still have quite a bit more that we need to raise in order to

complete the fence. Even the Army gets into the act. The funds are very limited,

and so they provided about $200,000 worth of airlift capacity. And so it

really makes our dollars stretch a lot further when we're able to partner with

them.

They're saving us a significant amount of money by doing this as a training

opportunity for the National Guard, so it's a win-win for both sides.

One of the best places to see this spirit of cooperation for the good of a

native forest is on the steep and sweeping leeward slopes of Mt.

Haleakala on Maui. For many decades goats and cows did their best to level

everything. Cooperation between the state the Maui Forest Bird Recovery project,

and volunteers are making a real difference. While the work here is already

paying dividends by reducing erosion and runoff and by reintroducing native trees

like Koa and Ohia, it has a very specific purpose. We are

trying to re-establish enough for us to bring the native forest birds back to

this spot. So the success of this site has actually really blown us away,

the fence went up and the ungulates were out of here in about 2012,

the final animals out and at that time we started experimental plant plantings

as well as monitoring natural regeneration that was going on in here

and the survival rates of the out plantings in this area surpassed any of

our expectations. We've also found techniques to be able to enhance natural

regeneration and the forest is coming back a lot faster than we anticipated.

More than a quarter of a million native trees are now in the ground here, planted

by staff and many, many volunteers. Soon, it's hoped this forest will once again be

full of the songs of native birds, which will be music to the ears of the many,

many people who've helped it along. This is something that I always tell our crew

and people who come up here in, whether they're volunteering or they're getting

paid to come up here as our employees... but I tell people I said you know

although you're getting paid to do your job I said it takes a different person

that's got to love what they do to come up here...you know high winds, lots of

rain, but they do it and this is the product, you know fruits of their labor

and I'm really happy to see this today.

For more infomation >> FORESTS FOR LIFE, Seg #8 THE FOREST HELPERS - Duration: 6:22.

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Mount Dora church seeks donations for bell tower restoration - Duration: 1:43.

For more infomation >> Mount Dora church seeks donations for bell tower restoration - Duration: 1:43.

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Rob's Weather Artist of the Day for 4pm Friday, February 1st - Duration: 0:37.

For more infomation >> Rob's Weather Artist of the Day for 4pm Friday, February 1st - Duration: 0:37.

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I Found My Purpose! Now I Am Looking For My Team to Build This Movement! Are You It?! - Duration: 4:15.

Hi, my name is Natalie and I want to talk to you from my heart.

When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.

The way that I am meant to make a difference in this world is by bettering education and

how we see ourselves and connect to one another in the world.

My journey started by developing a program called the Art of Belonging, in which I've

had a chance to share with multiple high schools and universities - children, adults, and everything

in between - and I've been shocked at the impact that this has had and how people are

connecting with one another and communicating with one another.

But after giving this presentation a few times, what I realized is that the real thing that

I've been overlooking this whole time is that it's great to connect with other people but

that connection really starts with the receiver.

It starts with listening.

Listening is a skill that we are able to learn.

It's something that can be taught and practiced in our lives.

But in the world we live in today, it's something that is very frequently overlooked.

I've been developing a curriculum on this very idea to really transform the way that

we as humans connect with one another and communicate with one another.

This is something that I am going full force on in making my life purpose.

I am a game changer and I absolutely love this topic and I will never stop until I truly

am able to transform education and how we connect with one another.

I am looking for my tribe to help me in that process.

I want to change the world and impact it positively, like I know many of you do as well.

This is the way that I want to do it!

It has taken me a lot of years to find this and I'm super excited that I've finally gotten

here.

I know how I want to become better and I know how I want to make the world around me better

too.

It's through teaching this Art of Listening, teaching how we can really hear what each

other are saying and hear our own intuition and what is going on inside of us.

These are all revolutionary concepts that will change everything for a lot of people.

I want people to help make it happen.

I need a team!

I'm looking for people who can help with finances and sales and marketing and branding and I

don't even know what else.

If this is something that resonates with your soul and your heart as much as it does mine,

I want you on my team.

What I'm asking you to do is, please reach out.

I have a link in the bottom of this video.

Please click that link and let me know how you feel like you fit in.

Let me know what your strengths are.

This is one of my biggest gifts- taking what people love and what really fuels them and

fires them up and to transform that into something that changes the world on a massive scale.

This is something I've done my whole life and I'm ready to do it in this arena, which

is the arena I've been called to my entire life.

Again, if this is your story too and you want to be part of this process and you want to

join me on this momentum, put in blood and sweat and tears with me, then please reach

out.

My ask is that if this is not you and this does not speak to your soul, please spread

this message.

Please share this with someone you think it might or share it broadly with your whole

community and network.

I'm trying to reach the right people and I know, because this is my heart's mission, that I will.

That I will find you.

I don't know how what the number is and I don't know what it is going to look like,

but I am so excited to meet the right people and make this really happen for the world.

I want to make the world a better place and I want to do that by revolutionizing education

and again, this human connection that we have.

We are connected to all things and it's a beautiful thing.

We need to take time to listen to really hear what that looks like for ourselves.

If this is you, reach out to me.

Go to my website, I have a link below, it's super easy.

Just put in your name, put in your information, tell me how you feel like you can be part

of this process or tell me you don't know and we'll find a place for you.

I promise you it's going to be so powerful and it's going to make such a big difference.

I can't wait to meet all the right people for my team.

Thank you so much for listening to this message.

I can't wait to make a difference in this world with you.

For more infomation >> I Found My Purpose! Now I Am Looking For My Team to Build This Movement! Are You It?! - Duration: 4:15.

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South LA School Trades In Patriots Mascot For Rams Ahead Of Super Bowl - Duration: 2:09.

For more infomation >> South LA School Trades In Patriots Mascot For Rams Ahead Of Super Bowl - Duration: 2:09.

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Iowa fire department takes heat for controversial policy - Duration: 2:56.

For more infomation >> Iowa fire department takes heat for controversial policy - Duration: 2:56.

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Still hope for measures to help pay for Halifax County highschool - Duration: 1:46.

For more infomation >> Still hope for measures to help pay for Halifax County highschool - Duration: 1:46.

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Bay Area Braces For More Rain, Powerful Winds - Duration: 3:22.

For more infomation >> Bay Area Braces For More Rain, Powerful Winds - Duration: 3:22.

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New Jersey Senator Cory Booker Announces He's Running For President - Duration: 2:33.

For more infomation >> New Jersey Senator Cory Booker Announces He's Running For President - Duration: 2:33.

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FORESTS FOR LIFE, Seg #4 THE FOREST RESTORERS - Duration: 8:37.

We're on ʻŌʻōkala on Hawaii Island the name of the property is Ka Malu o Niupe'a.

We're actually in Niupe'a Homesteads. On a misty morning Kaye Lundburg and her

dog walk across her 40 acres. She is one of the superstars of "private forest

restoration", people who set-up conservation easements, this means

they've agreed to set aside land for conservation purposes forever. So my

intent is to restore a native forest. Kaye and other like-minded property owners can

get expert help, technical assistance and other resources from an array of federal

and state agencies. She's received top awards from many of those agencies for

her and her partner's work here at ʻŌʻŌKALA.

It's an ongoing process, but her forest looks a lot different today than before,

when invasives: plants and animals that crowd out or destroy native plants,

choked the native forest. The major invader here were pigs and strawberry

guava...it was so thick and then a lot of guinea grass was here so we weren't

really able to even I didn't even know what the property really looked like. All

I knew is an amazing ohia, and I was advised and I knew that if it wasn't

managed properly and they weren't going to survive. And now that we're dealing

with rapid ohia death, the threat is even greater. So, we're planting trees,

that is what we are doing and we're planting trees and we're planting lots of ohia,

hopefully for the future. Invasive trees, like strawberry guava, are water

suckers. In contrast native trees, like ohia, drip water onto the ground where

slowly but surely, one drop at a time, underground aquifers get replenished.

Invasives use almost every available drop to expand their own kingdom. Like an

invading army of giants they swallow up virtually everything in their path,

making it difficult if not impossible for native plants and trees to thrive.

It's overwhelming, the maintenance of it because we have to constantly keep on it,

to keep the invasives. I, you know the strawberry guava we we have we're

managing it, well but now we've got the tipitina

very thick that we have to get rid of we have guinea grass that has come in now

where the ground was disturbed so it's gonna be an ongoing process. I'm very

grateful for a conservation easement and I'm you know looking for the succession

plan here you know this is a long-term project you know way beyond my lifetime.

So, I am very intent that it will stay in conservation and it will be very

carefully transferred to the next steward. This was probably be this big, when it went in the ground and when we plant our trees, we put cardboard around them.

Kaye feels that while the time and care needed to nurture lands under

conservation easements is challenging, sometimes a mixed bag, she finds it

extremely rewarding. But financing, equipment, resources and most of all...

passion, Kaye says, are key. Our native species do not recognize land boundaries,

partnerships with landowners like Kaye are essential for their persistence. It's

a long-term reward and I think the passion is the most important thing the

passion for the trees. In my case it's native trees. I know how few and far

between they are now and our native trees are fragile and if they're not, if

they're not restored, if they're not brought back onto the land there will be

no more native for us for our children and our grandchildren to see because the

ones that have been brought in, the exotics and you know I have my own bias

there but there I want to protect the native trees.

Restoration projects like Kaye's might soon get a boost through an innovative

financing mechanism called carbon offsets. Traveling not

too many miles, from the eastern slopes of MaunaKea to the north,

this group is visiting the Pu'u Mali Restoration Area. This was once a prime

forest of native koa and is home to one of the most endangered Hawaiian

birds, the Palila. In the decades that followed, cattle ranching and a forest

fire left the area unrecognizable. Now Pu'u Mali

aims to meet the challenge of combating climate change. This groundbreaking

project will harness the power of public-private partnerships to replace

entire forests and offset the very thing that causes climate change: the carbon

produced when we drive our cars, cool our homes or fly on an airplane. We invite

private entities to partner with the state in reforesting this area, restoring

Palila habitat, prime native forests, and combine it with a carbon forest project.

So we want to have the reforestation certified by an

established carbon standard, that's basically a third party that certifies

that you're storing a certain amount of carbon by reforesting the area. So

whenever we plant a Koa tree, just like that, with the photosynthesis, it sucks

out carbon dioxide, one of the major greenhouse gases that is changing our

climate as we speak. And it stores it in in biomass.

Restoring forests this way provides untold additional benefits. Let's say an

airline wants to offset their carbon emissions, for now they cannot fly

without fossil fuels, so they have to look at ways, 'okay, all this

emissions that we put into the atmosphere how can we mitigate that?' And

a project like this would be the perfect opportunity because it has so many

benefits, not only is it storing the carbon and sucking it out of the

atmosphere, but it also creates critical habitat. Just like Kaye Lundburg's efforts

around the mountain, just on a much larger scale, returning large landscapes

to the way they used to be has countless challenges. You're at the mercy of the

weather...too much rain, too much sun, too hot and that tenacious battle of keeping

out non-native and invasive plants and animals bent on reversing any progress.

Hawaii is on the forefront of this movement, which recognizes there are many

things we can each do to keep our water fresh, clean, and abundant. To behave Pono

by recognizing how land, water, mountain and ocean are all connected. If we

protect our forests for life, they will assuredly help sustain our lives. It is

very exciting, and we are definitely taking a lead, and we are proud to

continue this tradition of Hawai'i - to be a national leader when it comes to

environmental protection and conservation

and these innovative approaches, such as the forest carbon mechanism.

For more infomation >> FORESTS FOR LIFE, Seg #4 THE FOREST RESTORERS - Duration: 8:37.

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Kylie Jenner Shares Never-Before-Seen Pics for Stormi's 1st Birthday - Duration: 4:07.

Kylie Jenner Shares Never-Before-Seen Pics for Stormi's 1st Birthday

Happy birthday! Kylie Jenner celebrated her daughter Stormi's first year with an Instagram tribute on Friday, February 1.

"How did i get so lucky to have such a sweet, smart, happy baby," the makeup mogul, 21, captioned a sweet photo spread. "I just couldn't have dreamt you up, storm.

I wish you could stay this little forever and i could protect that contagious smile and laugh of yours.

I know you won't remember much about the first year of your life but i pray that you'll never forget to keep sharing your joy and laughter with the world. My love grows for you a thousand miles a minute.

Every day with you is the best day of my life. Happy birthday to my angel on earth.". The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star posted never-before-seen pictures of her daughter, starting with Stormi hugging a wall of teddy bears.

Other photos featured the little one rocking dad Travis Scott's merch, sleeping in her car seat and smiling on a boat.

Jenner also included videos of Stormi taking a few shaky steps and playing in her shoe closet, as well as a mother-daughter selfie and a shot of Scott, 26, kissing his baby girl's cheek.

The reality star also uploaded a second post for the big day, although her daughter didn't make an appearance in the Instagram video until the end.

Instead, Jenner recorded close-up footage of herself getting kisses from Scott before she panned over to Stormi in a stroller. "Happy birthday Stormi," she captioned the post. She wasn't the only one to share a birthday tribute to the 1-year-old.

Kim Kardashian was the first to celebrate her niece on social media with a shot of her daughter Chicago, also 1 years old, playing with her slightly younger cousin.

"Happy Birthday to the sweetest baby girl Stormi," Kardashian, 38, wrote. "We love you so much!!"".

Scott shared a sweet message for his little one, as well. "ITS MY QUEEN ,MY HEART, MY AIR , MY EVERYTHING. I LOVE U SO MUCH BABY," the rapper wrote. "U THE SMARTEST AND LOVING BABY EVER.

UR SPIRT KEEPS ME GOING EVERY DAY ME AND UR MOMMY LOVE U AND CANT WAIT TO SHARE MORE BEAUTIFUL DAYS WITH U. HAPPY BDAYY STORMIII LETS RAGE.".

Kendall Jenner showed love for her niece with a sweet pic kissing Stormi's cheek — and revealed a new nickname. "Sweet, tiny noodle! Your energy is powerful, i hope the world offers you nothing but beautiful things.

I love you Stormeroo! Happy 1st birthday.". Jenner revealed her little one to the world on February 4, 2017, after keeping her pregnancy — and Stormi's birth — a secret.

For more infomation >> Kylie Jenner Shares Never-Before-Seen Pics for Stormi's 1st Birthday - Duration: 4:07.

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FORESTS FOR LIFE, Seg #9 WOOD MAGICIANS - Duration: 5:59.

On a country road in the back of the valley in Waimanalo the sound of a

sawmill breaks the still morning air.

Here at Waimanalo Wood, Miles Luedtke and his business partner Elmer have a

thriving business milling all kinds of wood into useable lumber that can build

our homes. They even make use of harmful invasive trees like Albizia that

desperately need to be taken out of the forest. You know we've had projects mill

in Albizia wood, Norfolk pine, a lot of the more currently popular stuff,

monkeypod mango, milo, kamani, we got some false kamani, we got

eucalyptus robusta the list goes on and on. On another country road near the Hamakua

Coast on Hawaii Island Timothy Shafto turns a bowl. We have some of the

best woods here in Hawaii and this is one way to showcase the beautiful woods

that we have in Hawaii and it's a very sustainable forest. He's

one of a growing number of wood magicians using milled wood from fallen

trees to create beautiful and functional works of art.

And on a busy urban street on the University of Hawaii campus in Manoa

another work of art takes up an entire street corner. Again the focus is to

remove Albizia from the forest and turn it into something good. This is a Albizia

prototype it's a temporary demonstration here at the University.

It was my dissertation work at the School of Architecture. My research and

that was then funded after I graduated and we have built it over the last two

years essentially it's demonstrating the use of a invasive Albizia as a viable

building material. The sawmill, the bowl turning and the tiny house are all

examples of the ways Hawaii is using wood resources in innovative and

sustainable ways. Joey Valenti, the man who designed and built the tiny house at

U.H. leads the Hawaii Wood Utilization Team, formed in 2017. It's a group of

experts from various wood-related industries aiming to produce and

initiate innovative cross-sector ideas and projects that expand wood product

markets in Hawai'i. This project behind me and what we're looking at next

I think it's sparking something that that was there but just hasn't really

been, hasn't really been explored at the right time and I think we're we're at

that time now. Hawaii has never had much of a timber industry, mostly because it

costs so much to ship wood to the continent or overseas. But with a

plethora of exotic and beautiful native woods, along with invasive trees, like

Albizia that need removing there's a movement to develop local markets and

uses for Hawaii's forest products that can sustain our lives in these islands.

We work with a eco-friendly casket company named Pahiki caskets and they use

a lot of our Norfolk and they're using the Albizia too and some monkeypod.

Really people come here and and get wood for any reason that wood is

traditionally used for, shelving countertops, a box, anything. Hopefully one

day harmful trees like Albizia will no longer be available from our forests, and

our local wood workers will only have native and non-invasive species to work

with. On Hawai'i Island, Tim has expanded his talents and his repertoire from

beautiful Koa, Kamani and Milo Bowls to art pieces that use other materials but

focus on wood. This one here is just an abstract, which all these pieces what I'm

trying to do is showcase the wood. And one thing that I don't do, is I don't

work with trees that have been taken down live. It's all dead and fallen dying

trees. So, again this all these here started with the platter, with the resin

and so here we have the Koa and I have the colored resin and I build my own

panels so it's all start to finish. This one over here, this is my landscapes, so

we have the Koa here and the sand here, which I can say I don't take from the

beach. So, you got the wood, you got the sand and you got the resin right here.

Wow, that's really beautiful. My art is not created from wood, but it's inspired

by our native forests. And I hope that you've been inspired to join all the

people we've met in caring for and protecting our "Forests For Life". In so

many ways forests truly are the life force of our islands. Vital for us today,

and into the future...forever. I'm Kupa'a Hee. Mahalo for accompanying me on this

journey and a Hui Hou!

For more infomation >> FORESTS FOR LIFE, Seg #9 WOOD MAGICIANS - Duration: 5:59.

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Cory Booker Announces He's Running For President - Duration: 9:01.

For more infomation >> Cory Booker Announces He's Running For President - Duration: 9:01.

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FORESTS FOR LIFE, SEG. #5 THE FIREFIGHTERS - Duration: 7:35.

Before people, there were no fires. Even flowing lava and lightning strikes were

unlikely to spark fire in the dense native shrubs and wet forests. As people

altered the landscape and introduced foreign plants and animals, the natural

structure of the forest broke down. Tinder grasses invaded and crept higher

into the mountain like fuses waiting to ignite. What tends to happen is when the

fire goes through, it consumes all those native plants in a particular watershed

that we manage and because it's not a fire adapted community, plant community

ecologically, it doesn't tend to recover well. So, what tends to happen is after

this fire goes through, it burns and removes a lot of the native ground cover

the first thing that grows back is the one that I'll competes everything else

it's a non-native. The most fire resilient forests are the native ones.

Forests invaded by non-native species or afflicted with the slow burn of diseases

like rapid ohia death are more susceptible to burning, faster and hotter.

As a percentage of land area, the Aloha State typically loses as much forest to

fire every year as most western states. It's not really a season we have...but

we've had fires in January, we've had fires in June. We have had fires in

November, December so for us it's we just have to be ready at all times.

These places that you see that were green in a matter of a month and a month and a

half it could easily become brown. You know depends on the weather, what's

proceeding if it's been a windy period or it's just lack of rain. These are the

first responders for wildfires on millions of acres of state land. They

also support the firefights on county and federally owned-lands, that combined

with the state's accounts, for 60% of all of Hawaii. But most of the time between

us and the county we have it worked out pretty well where they'll take care of

the life and a property and if we have an area up in the mountain, where it's a

watershed we have to protect, then we go directly to the watershed. This means

having fire trucks, tools, equipment and firefighters ready to go is essential to

protect vast areas. These trucks are solely dedicated just to wildland fire.

The pumps already on it. Whatever necessary we need for fires is we load it

on these trucks already. So, these people are, our staff when they get called in

they're just literally coming in grab their PPE, grab your gear and then going

straight into these trucks and then we're heading out to the fire. With few

dedicated firefighters ordinary staff are trained and ready to leave their

desks at a moment's notice this work can eat up millions of dollars each year and

could continue to increase as the climate changes.

Dry areas are predicted to get drier, fires expected to be hotter and last

longer. When they reach into the watershed areas and our native forests,

the consequences can be devastating.

Remember how native trees are efficient in transporting water from rain into the

ground and aquifers? Unfortunately for us here at Maui every time we have a fire

somehow, we always have a huge rain event that follows and it usually you know

there's no interception, precipitation or raindrop interception...so when these

raindrops hit and when they come they're coming heavy and so now when it hits the

ground, no ground cover, that soil goes down into a stream or starts to begin a

runoff and that's when you see it end up in the ocean. Once again the mauka to

makai connection. Erosion and runoff into coastal waters are just a couple of the

negative impacts of fire. When fire gets into the native forests, we lose it's

great water capturing ability. The clear, clean, naturally filtered water we enjoy

from our faucets is ultimately reduced. This is why trying to replant forests

quickly and with the right kind of plants is vitally important.

Managing our native forests well an aggressive firefighting in all our

watersheds is important to the very survival of some really rare plants. A fire

here in 2016 scorched two and a half thousand acres burned into the Nanakuli

Forest Reserve. While the flames were still dying, Marigold Zoll and Susan

Ching hiked across freshly charred ground and up into the forest to check

on a single tree. It's the last remaining wild Nau'u or Hawaiian Gardenia on O'ahu.

Right on the edge of where trees were burning just a few days ago,

Susan climbs barefooted into the gardenia tree to collect fruit. Such is

the passion of virtually everyone you meet who works to protect Hawaii's

forests for life. Now this fruit has been hanging on the tree for awhile, so we'll see how she looks.

Oh look, it's charred on one side. Yeah, it really did get burned. It just escaped. Oh my

gosh, it's burnt. There are only 16 of these trees left, anywhere on earth. This

one on Oahu and the other 15 on Lanai. Another example of how precariously

close many native plants and animals are to being wiped from the face of the

earth forever and reason for Susan's delight. That's amazing, with the charred

fruit and everything and there's still some seeds in there. Oh wow, she was

really spared...she just barely made it. I think it's like...it's really

special that the fire burned all around this whole fence, and it's a

tiny fence, and and she got some char on the fruit and char on the leaves, but

she's still here. So, I'm happy, I'm sad, at the same time...so

but, overall I feel good. I feel like our efforts made a difference. It's not as

much as I would like, but we've all been working hard, you know, in this area,

and dry forests in general. So, it's hard to make a huge difference. But they do

make a difference, just as every step each of us takes to learn how our lives

intersect and intertwine with the forests that rise above us in Hawaii's

celebrated mountains: the backdrop and backbone of these islands. We can't

afford to take them for granted.

For more infomation >> FORESTS FOR LIFE, SEG. #5 THE FIREFIGHTERS - Duration: 7:35.

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'Surprise' snow to blame for bad roads, Indianapolis mayor says - Duration: 2:41.

For more infomation >> 'Surprise' snow to blame for bad roads, Indianapolis mayor says - Duration: 2:41.

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FORESTS FOR LIFE, Seg #7 THE WATER EXPERTS - Duration: 5:59.

This is East Maui, where forests and water are so closely linked that water

seems to run, flow and move just about everywhere. We're in Hana V above the

Ko'olau Ditch as part of the East Maui irrigation system in East Maui. East

Maui is part of windward Haleakala and the trade winds bring a lot of rainfall

to Haleakala and this rainfall contributes to groundwater recharge and

surface flow... protecting the watershed specifically the forests within the

watershed is an important component to the water cycle. The forests act as the

sponge that captures all that rainfall that the trade winds bring. And that

sponge releases it both in terms of groundwater recharge and surface flow...

Some of this surface water gets diverted to the central plains for drinking water

supply and agriculture. For a very long time, much of Maui's water was used to

grill crops like sugarcane. Now that large-scale farming has mostly stopped,

state regulators are taking a hard look at reallocating water from streams...

surface water... to other beneficial uses. So we evaluate freshwater habitat,

recreational and aesthetic values, traditional and customary practices,

water quality and a variety of in-stream uses that are defined by the State Water

code. It doesn't hurt to repeat what we've heard over and over. Philosophy and

a way of thinking formed more than a century ago. It was stated about a

hundred years ago, that water was our number one resource that our force

provided. It wasn't timber, it wasn't land. It was the water and it's evident that

without water, life wouldn't survive here in the islands. So, protecting our

watersheds, protecting our resources, but all also utilize them to the best extent

possible while striking a balance maintaining in-stream

values is going to be important moving forward as the climate is

changing, as rainfall patterns change, as drought becomes a bigger issue. Our water

supply and the consistency and reliability is going to be an important

component to our community. The importance of water and forests was

firmly established after vast tracts of lowland trees began disappearing

in the early 1900's. They were victims of tree harvesting and cattle grazing.

Streams ran dry. Farmers noticed the decline. So did the

foresters of the time, whose early work aimed to bring watershed forests back.

They searched the world for plants and trees to mimic the original forests, with

the thinking the native trees would not come back and unfortunately leading to

the introductions of alien species. On the bright side, the planting of twelve

and a half million of these mostly non-native trees in the early 1940s

heralded the concept of forest protection and restoration.... The rain

following the forest...which is as valid today as ever from the sky, to the

forest, to the the ground, to the underground and back up again. We produce about 36 million

gallons a day, most of that is the groundwater. Here where we are in Iao

in central Maui, about 90 percent of that water is from groundwater and some is

from surface water as like by Wailuku River behind us. Other areas like

Lahaina, the west side and up country we rely heavily on all surface water. Then

on Molokai, its 100% reliant on groundwater. Eva Blumenstein is with

the county department that gets water from the ground or surface to the

majority of Maui's homes, schools, and businesses. We literally walk on our

water supply, so anything that you dump or that you spilled on the ground can

leach through the soil and into aquifer and contaminate it. And knowing just how

important its forests are for the county government on Maui has

invested millions of dollars to protect water supplies. That includes fencing to

keep hungry critters out of sensitive forest watershed areas. It includes

pipes and tanks to move water and store it.

They even support research on invasive plants and how to control them and knock

em' down. And it has replaced the native forests we know that we're getting less

recharge because that's the real water hog. That particular tree uses more

water than native species and it's not as good as intact native habitat or

ecosystems really to capture all that rainfall. With all the forest protection

and replanting projects happening all across the state, there's a real sense of

optimism. And shortly you'll meet some of the people who have their boots on the

ground working and volunteering to be sure that optimism is true and lasting.

There is plentiful and there's pristine water resources here in terms of groundwater.

We have 426 million gallons a day. We certainly have the supply there, it's

just a way of managing and using it responsibly.

For more infomation >> FORESTS FOR LIFE, Seg #7 THE WATER EXPERTS - Duration: 5:59.

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FORESTS FOR LIFE, Seg #6 THE FLOOD FIGHTERS - Duration: 6:02.

In April 2018, the skies over Kaua'i opened up and

over certain places more rain fell in 24 hours than has ever been recorded,

anywhere. This epic flood toppled homes from their foundations, overturned

two-ton trucks, swept countless tons of debris out to sea, and for many months

cut-off permanent road access for hundreds of people on Kauai's North

Shore. Powerful raging waters cut into mountainsides and left enormous erosion

scars. It was dramatic, we'll never know exactly how much rain actually fell in

this location since we didn't have an automated rain gauge. I measured

accurately 30 inches of rain in 12 hours in 1987 and my guess is we had more than

twice that. We know Hanalei recorded 50 inches. We're in Limahuli Valley, in

particular the lower Limahuli reserve, which is a natural area.

And among the most beautiful, pristine and biologically diverse places anywhere

in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Chipper Wichman, of the National Tropical

Botanical Gardens, of which Limahuli is part of, and Melissa Fisher from the

Nature Conservancy are eager to point out that, it was the actions taken before

the big flood that really saved the upper portion of the thousand acre

Valley and its rare plants and birds. We are kind of split geographically into

the lower preserve and upper preserve we've got an 800-foot-high waterfall

that separates the two. The upper preserve is entirely fenced with ungulate fence

and we manage that area very, very actively for ground nesting seabirds

as well as for the rest of the biodiversity in

that area. But it's the only known nesting site on this island for the

Hawaiian petrel we've recently translocated some to Kilauea Point, which

has been very, very successful and so we are thrilled with that, but that

area is virtually pristine, it never was degraded by cattle or human impact

and with the ungulate fence and ungulate free, it's a really

intact native system up there. And it was really amazing, now part of what I'm

going to describe could be partially due to greater intensity of rain in the

lower preserve, because it was a really, a localized rain event.

But we had no landslides into upper preserve. We had no damage to our fence.

The bio-diversity up there really didn't have any long-term or significant

negative consequences. The stream obviously was raging and everything was

running off, but intact native system is is not monotypic its diverse its

designed to be able to catch and filter rainfall and so we really saw that

system up there functioning really well. As Chipper was mentioning, the more

complex the forests, the more diverse the forests, the better it is to capture that

fresh water, the easier it's gonna be to slowly filter it down to the forest

floor. Whereas you look at a more simple forest where you might have Albizia or

strawberry guava, who these types of forests create just stands of trees that

crowd out all the native species, but they act as almost funnels and the water

just runs down their smooth bark to the forest floor and causes erosion and

runoff which then affects our streams and rivers and, and floats down to the

reefs and so it affects the whole system.

Yet another mauka to makai example to show you how everything that happens up

high as a definite impact down low. It's really a classic cause and effect.

On Kaua'i the Nature Conservancy helps coordinate one of the watershed

partnerships. The Kaua'i Watershed Alliance includes eleven landowners and

the county's water department. These lands come together at the top of the

mountain...the headwaters for all seven major rivers on the Garden Island.

In Melissa's words and as you can see for yourself, "this is a pretty amazing place."

Now we've learned that Hawaii's native forests can dampen the impact of natural

disasters. Our list of benefits just keeps growing. A cultural resource. Home

to rare native plants and animals. Great for keeping erosion at bay and out of

the bays. Wonderful for storing carbon and countering the pollutants we put

into the air. More fire resistant than unhealthy or non-native forests. And as

Kauai'i learned in 2018...helpful in controlling flooding and reducing the

damage it causes. Most importantly, bringing us back to the one thing that

we all appreciate. These forests for life protect the clean water we drink. We live

on an island, we're in the middle of nowhere and if we can't take care of our

own freshwater, it won't be there for future generations. How much water do we

have? How does it get from the ground to our faucets? And what's happening to make

sure a steady flow continues?