\u201cSome individuals of these species are actually growing under the metal holds and steps pounded into dry cliff walls of concern. The only known Hibiscus brackenridgei <\/em>(Ma\u2018o hau hele or Aloalo) West Maui population is in danger of trampling or breakage during the hike to the vertical walls for climbing,\u201d it states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The division asked the Land Board on\nOctober 11 to close the cliff areas for up\nto two years to prevent further harm to\nthe plants.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n DOFAW\u2019s Emma Yuen told the board\nthat up until recently, the plants had been\npretty well defended by the steep cliffs.\nNow that a rock climbing community is\nstarting to go up there, the endangered\nplants are getting trampled, she said.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s not illegal to climb. … It is illegal\nto drill holes,\u201d she added.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Board member Sam Gon, a scientist who\nhelped survey the NAR in the 1980s, said\nthe cliffs are riddled with caves that contain\ncultural sites that could also be threatened\nif the climbing is unchecked.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wai Yi Ng, vice president of the local rock-climbing non-profit The Arch Project Hawai\u2018i, testified against the proposed closure and suggested that a special use permit be granted instead to allow climbers to assist DOFAW in taking an inventory of the rare plants, relocating the climbing trail around them, and controlling invasive species. \u201cThe climbing community is very interested in this,\u201d she said before asking for a contested case hearing. The board denied her request, but expressed a willingness to work with the climbers on a plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arch co-founder Nate Lim explained that the organization focused on safety and conservation. \u201cI wanted to make sure it\u2019s well known that climbers are equally if not more passionate about the environment than they are about climbing. … None of us is wanting to do something that is illegal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gon replied that he wasn\u2019t saying people shouldn\u2019t be climbing in the reserve, but pointed out that DOFAW\u2019s proposal was based on the observed damage that\u2019s occurred. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The board then unanimously approved the closure for up to two years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ever since the Land Board terminated an agreement in July 2017 with Haleakala Ranch Company to allow guided hikes on the state\u2019s historic Haleakala Trail that bisects the ranch, the Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) has been working with community hiking groups and the ranch on terms of a new access agreement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The original agreement allowed only\ntwo guided hikes a year. It was signed in\n2012, when the ranch maintained that it\nowned the trail.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n On October 11, over the objections of David Brown, executive director of Public Access Trails Hawai\u2018i (PATH), DOFAW sought and received Land Board approval of a new memorandum of agreement with PATH, the ranch, the Sierra Club\u2019s Maui group, and the Department of Land and Natural Resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the agreement, public use of the trail is limited to scheduled, guided hikes of\nno more than 20 people. The Sierra Club\nMaui group would maintain an online\nreservation system and would schedule a\nhike once each quarter and on additional\ndays upon request.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a February 10 letter to the Land Board,\nBrown objected to the MOA. \u201cThe real\npurpose of the memorandum is to close\ndown Haleakala Trial and not to open it\nto its owners, the public. Four trips a year\nof three hours each is 12 hours use a year.\nThis is 0.14 percent of a year. The public\nowners of Haleakala Trail deserve the full\n100 percent use,\u201d he wrote.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n It wasn\u2019t until 2014 that the 2nd Circuit\nCourt ruled that the state owned the trail.\nPATH was the original plaintiff in that\ncase and Brown noted that there is already\na court-approved survey of the trail, \u201cand\nmuch historic rock work is on it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even so, DOFAW Maui branch\nmanager Scott Fretz told the board at\nits October meeting that that the trail is\n\u201cimpossible to follow. People are getting\non, wander off on ranch property and are\nessentially trespassing and creating issues\nfor the ranch.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe trail is not closed. It\u2019s never been\nclosed. We\u2019re not asking you to close the\ntrail in this submittal. It\u2019s just that you can\u2019t\nsee the trail on the ground,\u201d he added.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n DOFAW\u2019s report to the board states that the division doesn\u2019t plan to improve, construct, and maintain the trail anytime soon. \u201c[I]t is our recommendation that the trail remain as an unencumbered inventory trail. … If, at any time in the future, the division recommends use of the trail that involves improvements, construction, and maintenance, we will reevaluate the disposition with consideration to set aside as a [Na Ala Hele] program trail,\u201d it states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n DOFAW has also stated that the lack of parking at both ends of the trail is another reason why it does not encourage unguided public use. — Teresa Dawson<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Climbing Damage Prompts Partial Closure of Maui Reserve The state’s Natural Area Reserves System includes some of the most pristine and biologically and geologically unique places. Extractive or potentially destructive uses either require a permit or are prohibited altogether. In … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,460],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-11918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-board-talk","category-november-2019","tag-teresa-dawson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11918","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=11918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n\n\nHaleakala Bridle Trail Open to Guided Hikes<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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