Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Louis Lea | KEKAHA, Hawai‘i (April 26, 2024) Students visiting Pacific Missile Range Facility...... read more read more
KEKAHA, Hawaii – On the morning of April 26, with the sun shimmering off the water, students and chaperones from Eleele, Kekaha, St. Theresa’s, and Kalahelo Elementary Schools gathered at Waiokapua (Major’s) Bay for the annual Earth Day event held on Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF), Barking Sands.
With the collective hard work of the students, chaperones, and PMRF Sailors and personnel, a total of 208 pounds of trash was removed from the Waiokapua Bay beach area.
“We're thrilled to work with our partner organizations from across Kauai, as well as schools and the local community,” said Capt. Brett Stevenson, PMRF Commanding Officer, “to get them excited about their environment, and bring them together with Sailors and the workforce of PMRF to be able to celebrate Earth Day 2024.”
Following the cleanup portion of the event, students rotated through stations to learn about the missions of some of our many community partners. We were joined by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources; Hoʻomalu Ke Kai; County of Kauai Recycling; Kauai Invasive Species Committee; Kaunalewa; Nā Maka Onaona; PMRF Crash Fire; PMRF Meteorology; Save Our Shearwaters; The Nature Conservancy; USDA Wildlife Services; and Zero Waste.
“This is a great interaction where we at PMRF are having our kids come down,” said Darrian Muraoka, a Predator Control Biologist with United States Department of Agriculture, “not only picking up debris, but also learning about Waiokapua Bay and how long this stretch of beach is and why it's important to them and to us.”
At each station, the students were able to learn about the conservation and environmental efforts that take place, not just on the installation, but around the entire island of Kauai. These stations also served to educate the students on possible future career paths for them.
“We couldn't do our important mission here at PMRF without the experts in our environmental team who bring a range of skills and techniques to ensure that our mission is a success,” said Stevenson.
| Date Taken: | 04.29.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 04.30.2024 16:20 |
| Story ID: | 469903 |
| Location: | KEKAHA, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 47 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, PMRF Holds Earth Day Celebration, by PO1 Louis Lea, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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