Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources recently sent out the following press release:
HA‘ENA, KAUA‘I — After several years of research, community meetings, and previous attempts to develop a master plan for the park, the Division of State Parks of the Department of Land and Natural Resources has completed a master plan and draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Ha‘ena State Park.
Together with a 32-member community advisory committee, a team of consultants, State Parks and its contractor PBR HAWAII, refined a previous version of the master plan drafted in 2001 with a renewed emphasis on the cultural and historical significance of Ha‘ena as well as solutions to the natural hazards, traffic and parking congestion.
The DEIS was published in today’s edition of the OEQC bulletin for a 45 day public review and comment period which ends on Sept. 8, 2015. The document can be found on OEQC’s website at http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/Shared%20Documents/Environmental_Notice/current_issue.pdf
900 people per day should be adequate. Ke’e beach and the end of the road is a bottleneck. The reef at Ke’e is already suffering due to overuse from snorkeling. The Kalalau Trail has littler problems. Overcrowding on the trail takes away from the “wilderness experience.” The trail itself becomes damaged with too much foot traffic. Congestion and lack of parking is at a tipping point. It can’t be a “free for all.” There must be limitations as is it is for all State Parks.