{"id":10254,"date":"2018-03-01T22:05:29","date_gmt":"2018-03-01T22:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.environment-hawaii.org\/?p=10254"},"modified":"2019-01-03T23:17:11","modified_gmt":"2019-01-03T23:17:11","slug":"board-fines-companies-2500-each-for-unpermitted-tours-of-mauna-kea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=10254","title":{"rendered":"Board Fines Companies $2,500 Each For Unpermitted Tours of Mauna Kea"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On January 26, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources voted to fine two tour companies that cater to Chinese tourists $2,500 each for conducting commercial activities within the Mauna Kea forest reserve without a permit.<\/p>\n

Dave Smith, administrator for the Department of Land and Natural Resources\u2019 Division of Forestry and Wildlife recommended that the board first fine Feng Yi Guo. He told the board that his division had sent her a cease-and-desist notice on December 5, 2017, after Office of Mauna Kea Management rangers documented her company\u2019s vans taking customers to the Hale Pohaku area of the mountain on 19 occasions over a 90-day period. Even so, Smith said her company continued to bring people there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just see this as a pattern of abuse. The place is just inundated with people,\u201d he said, adding that DOFAW generally doesn\u2019t allow commercial use in the forest reserve on Mauna Kea because the general public use is so high.<\/p>\n

In her defense, Feng testified that her company tried 10 years ago to get a commercial use permit from the University of Hawai\u2018i, which manages the summit, to take tours to Mauna Kea. \u201cWe\u2019ve been talking to them and talking to them. We don\u2019t get any answers. We don\u2019t get any straight answers why we don\u2019t go up there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She argued that her company vehicles only drive on the access road and do not go on any hills. She asked for photographic proof that they went on DLNR land.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you know that we\u2019re doing tours if our drivers stay in the bus, in the car, just like taxis?\u201d she asked. \u201cDid we actually do anything to jeopardize safety, jeopardize the environment? … We educate our customers. We do not want them to do anything wrong,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

She also argued that her company provides a safe way for them to get around the island. \u201cThe Chinese people, they do not drive well. That\u2019s a fact. … They don\u2019t get any driving experience until 35 or early 40s,\u201d Feng said.<\/p>\n

In questioning Feng about her company\u2019s practices, board members determined that at least in some instances, her company was parking at the University of Hawai\u2018i\u2019s visitor center at around dusk, letting passengers walk up the cinder cone within the forest reserve, and waiting for them long enough for them to view the sunset.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThere is no sign that says people can\u2019t go up the hill. If you don\u2019t want people to go, you should put a sign or gate,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

To Yuen, it was pretty clear her company was conducting commercial tours and he moved to approve DOFAW\u2019s recommendation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a fair inference of the facts is the group is being taken on a sunset tour and taken to Hale Pohaku and being left to do something on their own,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For board member Keone Downing, the case highlighted the need to revisit the commercial tour permitting issue. \u201cWe\u2019re coming to a situation where we\u2019re worried about carrying capacity. At the same time, we\u2019re allowing eight permittees to have their permits forever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Maui board member Jimmy Gomes also said he felt for Feng, but in the end, the board voted unanimously to approve Yuen\u2019s recommendation.<\/p>\n

The second company DOFAW\u2019s Smith recommended fining, Green Travel & Tour, was also believed to be conducting sunset tours, he said. And in that case, he said his division had a picture of one of its vehicles in the forest reserve.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Similar to Feng\u2019s experience, Green Travel manager Chun Kai Huang said his company asked UH\u2019s Office of Mauna Kea Management for a commercial use permit 15 years ago and didn\u2019t exactly deny any illegal activity. He did suggest that penalizing tour companies wouldn\u2019t relieve overuse. \u201cIf you have 500 vehicles going up to the mountain one time … why would you concentrate on tour companies? … You would end up with 450 [vehicles]. Is that so much different?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

With regard to the photo evidence, Chun said that was taken when one of his employees took some of his visiting relatives on a tour.<\/p>\n

Yuen noted that DOFAW\u2019s report indicated that rangers documented Green Travel in the forest reserve on four separate incidents in 2017, since a cease-and-desist notice was served.<\/p>\n

To all of the calls made that day for new commercial use permits, board chair Suzanne Case said, \u201cIf you have been paying attention to the broader discussion, there should be further limits on vehicles, not more permits.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Former Land Board member Rob Pacheco, whose tour company holds one of the OMKM\u2019s eight commercial use permits for Mauna Kea, testified that some years ago, there was a proposal that the permits be cycled through, with those for the two lowest earners being put out to bid. But that proposal never went anywhere, he said.<\/p>\n

He also complained that the DLNR\u2019s \u201chierarchy of uses\u201d policy \u2014 where natural resources come first, then public uses, then commercial uses \u2014 is flawed, especially when commercial tour guides are highly educated. Under the policy, \u201cpeople can\u2019t go into the Alakai [a sensitive natural area on Kaua\u2018i] who know what they\u2019re doing,\u201d he said, offering just one example. Even so, his company won\u2019t go where it\u2019s not permitted, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve lost business from other tours … doing stuff in areas we don\u2019t go to. That\u2019s part of doing business and being pono in attempting to follow rules,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Smith said he agreed with Pacheco, at least with regard to Mauna Kea. \u201cI think commercial might be the best way to go, but they need a permit. … We felt and continue to feel there are too many people. We need a master plan. Maybe commercial permits would be part of the mix,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

With regard to the violation case, he continued, \u201cthis is probably the softest penalty possible. … Quite frankly, it\u2019s not fair to the permitted folks .. if you\u2019re only paying $2,500.\u201d<\/p>\n

Green Travel owner Dien-Jung Lin told the board, \u201c$2,500 is not a big issue. The issue is, how long like this?\u201d referring to the inability to bid on a permit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the tension is there are a lot of people that don\u2019t want so many people on the mountain,\u201d Case replied.<\/p>\n

Still, Lin and Feng wanted a chance. Pacheco stated earlier in the board\u2019s meeting that he pays $6 a head under his permit terms. \u201cWe could pay $10,\u201d Lin said. To which Feng added, \u201cWe want to pay $15.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the end, Yuen moved to approve DOFAW\u2019s recommendation, saying that there was enough evidence to support the allegation that at least one Green Travel tour in the forest reserve had taken place that was not explained by the employee\u2019s family visit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have evidence of a violation. Regardless of how good the character of the person, we have to treat it as a violation,\u201d Yuen said before the board unanimously approved his motion.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Teresa Dawson<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On January 26, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources voted to fine two tour companies that cater to Chinese tourists $2,500 each for conducting commercial activities within the Mauna Kea forest reserve without a permit. Dave Smith, administrator … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-10254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-march-2018","tag-teresa-dawson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}