About us
Moku o Keawe Land Conservancy is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization founded to conserve land and water resources on Hawai’i Island.
Board Members
Debbie Hecht was deeply involved in conservation as President of the Tucson Mountains Association (TMA) in Tucson Arizona, where TMA lead the effort to preserve 880 acres as a county park, Sweetwater Nature Preserve. TMA helped to pass the Open Space Bond for Pima County to purchase this land. She wrote the legislation to protect Pima County’s Peaks and Ridges and co-wrote legislation to give property tax credits to people who use conservation easements. When she moved to the Big Island, she worked for the Hawai’i County Council as a legislative aide. In 2005, Josh Stanbro of the Trust for Public Land asked her to spearhead Hawaii County’s 2% Land Fund campaign, in which 2% of Hawaii Island property taxes are placed into the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resource Fund (PONC) to acquire land. She has led this effort since then. She co-authored the enabling legislation in the Hawai’i County Charter for the 2% Land Fund and the Maintenance Fund for non-profits who care for the land. Hawaii County voters have approved this program three times by 63%. More than 11,000 acres have been preserved on the Big Island for the use and enjoyment by the citizens of the Big Island in perpetuity. She served on the founding board of the Hawai’i Island Land Trust which has become the Hawaii Islands Land Trust.
Alexandra Kelepolo worked for the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Conservation Commission (PONC) fund for ten years and expresses her thanks to Debbie and all the people who initially worked on this landmark legislation. Over the years, Alex worked with government, non-profits, community partners and many others to accomplish numerous conservation projects. She was instrumental in opening the PONC fund to purchasing conservation easements, which allowed the County to purchase its first conservation easement on the Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in November 2019. Alex now serves as a PONC Commissioner and is the current chair for the second time (2022 and 2024).
Megan Lamson Leatherman is a biologist and nonprofit manager that has been involved with coastal conservation activities along the Ka‘ū coastline since 2005. She has degrees in marine biology (B.Sc., UC Santa Cruz, 2005) and tropical conservation biology (M.Sc., UH Hilo, 2010) and nearly twenty years experience with coral reef fish ecology. Through her volunteerism and work endeavors, she has advocated for land protection and access through PONC since it was first a “2% Solution” ballot initiative. She is currently the President and Hawai‘i Program Director of Hawai‘i Wildlife Fund and the Secretary / Director with Ka ‘Ohana O Honu‘apo. She lives in Honalo mauka on a small farm with her husband, two dogs and flock of ducks, and enjoys being active out in nature.
Toni Withington was born on Oahu and worked in journalism at the Honolulu Star Bulletin, focusing on politics and land use. She moved to Hawaii Island in 1969. Her first years here, were spent in successfully fighting poorly planned development along the Kohala Coast and was an early advocate of the PONC fund and the state Legacy Land Fund. Toni has worked with governments, land trusts and several community nonprofits to conserve just shy of 1,200 acres of coastal land by raising $51million from a variety of sources. She has also served on the advisory board for Hawaiian Islands Land Trust.
Sally Rice Rice is a director and past president of Ka Ahahui ‘O Ka Nahelehele, a native dryland forest restoration nonprofit, past president of the Hawai’i Forest Institute and a former director of the Hawai’i Forest Industry Association and a past president. She is past chair of the Hawai’i Island Economic Development Board’s Agricultural Action Panel and former member of the University of Hawai’i’s College of Agriculture Hilo’s advisory committee for the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD ). Rice served on the Hawai’i County Charter Commission 2018-2020. As co-owner of Agro Resources, Inc. and Agricon Hawaii, Inc, Rice has been active in farming and marketing tropical crops on Hawai’i Island as well as developing farms for clients statewide. She has also consulted extensively for development firms on their agricultural lands and testified as an expert witness.