Lending more of an environmental perspective to Piiholo Ranch is Kathy Baldwin, wife of Peter, who is passionate about reforestation of native species and plants. She is presently involved in several organizations working to protect the endangered native Hawaiian forests on Maui.

She is vice president of Olino, an organization whose mission is to survey and define endangered native forest areas of Maui and develop protection strategies that include fencing, invasive plant control, seed collection, propagation and outplanting of native species endemic to the specific area. Kathy was also appointed to the Mayor’s Arbor Advisory Committee which is tasked with making policy concerning the “urban forest,” such as parking lot trees, developing a comprehensive planting plan for the County of Maui, and selecting trees for the distinction of “Exceptional Trees of Maui” – the house where Peter and Kathy live, built in 1920, has a famously beautiful Jacaranda tree that is featured on this such roster. This committee also organizes the annual Arbor Day event.

Kathy was a registered nurse for Hospice Maui for several years, and now serves on the board. She spearheaded a project that combines her commitment to native Hawaiian plants and her work with Hospice Maui by developing a native Hawaiian plant landscaping plan for the sand dunes on which the Hospice office stands.

She is also on the board of Environment Hawaii, an award-winning, leading environmental newsletter, and has been involved in issues concerning the native Hawaiian forests ever since she came to Maui in 1979. While becoming an avid hiker, she discovered the richness and spectacular diversity of the Hawaiian forest and could see in a short time the impact that invasive plants and feral animals have/had on the fragile ecosystem. It was then that she became involved with the Sierra Club and Native Hawaiian Plant Society. In the early 1980s, Kathy became involved in several reforestation projects that were the first of its kind; she helped with the first reforestation project on the island of Kahoolawe, and then coordinated the second reforestation project on that island. In the mid-80s, she formed the organization, LIFE (Living Indigenous Forest Ecosystem), to bring native Hawaiians and environmentalists together for public awareness regarding forest issues.

“The compelling force driving my activities is a sense of urgency to protect the jewels of this island. The Hawaiian forest is one of the most biologically rich and diverse forests in the world. Because the Hawaiian Islands are the most isolated from any continental land mass in the entire world, its biota has evolved differently here than anywhere else. The diversity of plants exists in a communal environment, with hundreds of species living together without any of them dominating. It is not unusual for a large koa tree to host thirty or more plants living on, in, around, and below it.”