Bezos $2M Funds UH Study of Wildfire Risk on Former-Plantation Lands

Jeff and Lauren Sánchez Bezos donated $3.5 million to the University of Hawai‘i, with $2.0 million designated for research into how land use and vegetation on former plantation lands drive wildfire risk across the islands and with special emphasis on Maui. The UHERO blog announced the $2 million gift on Feb. 11, 2026, and the UH Foundation confirmed the broader $3.5 million package that also includes $1.5 million to support Lahainaluna High School students displaced after the Aug. 8, 2023 fires.

The UH-funded study will evaluate the costs, fire-risk reduction efficacy and co-benefits of landscape-scale strategies on former plantation fields, UHERO economist Kimberly Burnett said. “We’re in the early stages of planning, but the big picture is that we’re trying to understand how different land-use and wildfire risk- reduction strategies perform across the landscape, especially on Maui, what they cost and what benefits they produce,” Burnett said. She added researchers will look beyond fire metrics: “We’re looking not just at fire risk reduction, but also food production, cultural value and environmental benefits.”

Researchers plan to compare a suite of mitigation and land-use transitions, including reforestation, agroforestry, green firebreaks, managed grazing and diversified agricultural conversion. The project will also benchmark those approaches against current stopgap measures such as repeated mowing and will assess vegetation management and infrastructure needs for landscape-scale implementation.

Multiple University of Hawai‘i units are named as collaborators on the effort: the University of Hawai‘i Economic Research Organization (UHERO) in UH Mānoa’s College of Social Sciences, the Institute for Sustainability and Resilience, the Ecosystems and Land Care Lab and NREM. The research will engage watershed partnerships, ranchers and community-based organizations; UH officials noted the $2 million builds on an earlier Bezos Earth Fund donation to the East Maui Watershed Partnership.

The funding announcement frames the work as part of long-term environmental recovery and community resilience nearly three years after the Aug. 8, 2023 fires that devastated parts of Maui. UH researchers say one underlying driver of current fire risk is large tracts of former plantation land now dominated by unmanaged, fire-prone invasive grasses that “grow quickly, dry out and create heavy fuel loads,” a condition cited repeatedly in the announcement materials.

Project leaders emphasize the research is in early planning and the public statements did not name a principal investigator, specific parcels for pilots, a start date or a project completion timeline. The UHERO post on Feb. 11, 2026 positions the work as an attempt to identify pathways for “transitioning high-risk lands toward safer and more productive uses,” while the UH Foundation summary ties the gift directly to Maui recovery and Lahainaluna student support. The research is being presented as statewide in scope, meaning former-plantation landscapes on islands such as Kauai will be part of the analytic frame even as Maui remains the immediate priority.