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Miss Hawaii Organization Celebrates 5th Year of Reforesting Legacy Trees

Honolulu, Hawaii, June 18, 2018 – On Saturday, the nonprofit Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative (HLRI), together with the Miss Hawaii Organization, planted 250 native and endemic Legacy Trees on the Island of Hawaii.

Penelope Ng Pack, Miss Hawaii 2018, planted Legacy Trees alongside other Miss Hawaii program participants. During each summer for the past five years, the Miss Hawaii Organization has dedicated Legacy Tree seedlings as gifts to all Miss America contestants.

“As volcanic activity in Hawaii creates changes in the natural environment, it reminds us of how some of our endemic forests and wildlife are being lost,” said Jeff Dunster, Executive Director of the Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative (HLRI). “The Miss Hawaii Organization is replacing some of these lost treasures through the planting of Legacy Trees.”

This year’s tree plantings also included mamane, a rare Hawaiian tree found at higher elevations on Mauna Kea. It is known for its striking bright yellow flowers, and its seeds are the primary food source for the Hawaiian Palila bird. The Palila is an endemic finch-billed honeycreeper, which has become critically endangered due to the loss of mamane forest habitat. It is estimated that there are less than 3,000 Palila birds left, and the only place they can be found is on the upland slopes of Mauna Kea on the Island of Hawaii.

Legacy Trees are planted through HLRI, a nonprofit organization with Legacy Forests on Oahu and the Island of Hawaii. The total planned area of the forests encompasses more than 2,300 acres, allowing HLRI to exceed its initial goal of reforesting 1.3 million native and endemic trees across the state – one for each person in Hawaii. Together with sustainable forestry company HLH LLC, HLRI has reforested more than 400,000 Legacy Trees since 2010.

“Our Miss Hawaii Legacy Forest brings these women together in the shared goal of leaving a lasting legacy in Hawaii,” said Ryan Brown, Executive Director of the Miss Hawaii Organization. “We are honored to support the ongoing growth of the Legacy Forest and share this aloha nationally at the Miss America Competition each year.”

Legacy Trees can be sponsored for $90, which includes a $30 donation to a designated nonprofit organization of the sponsor’s choice, via LegacyTrees.org or planted personally through the award-winning Hawaiian Legacy Tours. HLRI uses state-of-the-art radio-frequency identification technology to record the growth, health, location and sponsorship details of each tree and allows the sponsor to track the tree online throughout its lifetime using its TreeTrackerTM program.  

About HLRI: Through state-of-the-art technologies and methodologies, the nonprofit organization HLRI works with landowners to establish and preserve economically viable and sustainable endemic Hawaiian forests, protect endangered species, sequester carbon and recharge watersheds. HLRI’s Legacy Trees are planted for permanent reforestation and are sponsored by businesses and individuals, with a portion of proceeds donated to charities worldwide. For more, visit LegacyTrees.org. Learn more about Legacy Carbon at LegacyCarbon.com.  

About the Miss Hawaii Organization: Established in 1948, the Miss Hawaii Organization has maintained a tradition for many decades of empowering Hawaii’s women to achieve their personal and professional goals, while providing a forum in which to express their opinions, talent and intelligence. The program offers nearly
$1 million in scholarship assistance to the young women of Hawaii each year. Learn more at MissHawaii.org.

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