Hawai'i will join the rest of the nation Saturday in marking National Public Lands Day.

A National Environmental Education Foundation grant will enable O'ahu volunteers to remove invasive weeds from a large section of Kahanahaiki Ridge. The goal is to reintroduce palapalai ferns, which were once native to the area.

Kimberly Welch is an ourtreach specialist with the Oahu Army Natural Resources Program.

She says Kahanahaiki contains one of the last remnants of native mesic, or modestly moist, forest on O'ahu, one of the most imperiled forest community types in the islands.

Palapalai ferns grow 4 to 5 feet tall. They were used by ancient Hawaiians to adorn alters to the hula goddess Laka. Today they are used for lei and decorations.