{"id":11935,"date":"2019-11-01T20:43:24","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T20:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.environment-hawaii.org\/?p=11935"},"modified":"2020-07-02T00:45:18","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T00:45:18","slug":"board-talk-board-expands-options-for-kawainui-marsh-plan-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=11935","title":{"rendered":"Board Talk: Board Expands Options For Kawainui Marsh Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Kawainui Marsh. Credit: Dan Dennison<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

At the Land Board\u2019s October 25 meeting, a representative of the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle pleaded with the board to minimize any improvements within the 986-acre Kawainui Marsh-Hamakua master plan project area. To appease concerns expressed by that group and others about over-development, the Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) had already scaled back some of the trails and structures that had been proposed in a draft environmental impact statement for the plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those components, however, were aimed\nat expanding educational opportunities\nand Hawaiian cultural practices, and were,\nin fact, favored by many of the wetland\u2019s\nlongstanding stewards.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are afraid we\u2019re going to turn cultural practice [areas] into a commercial use area,\u201d DOFAW administrator Dave Smith told the board. The changes proposed \u2014 new trails around the marsh perimeter and gathering spaces \u2014 were not expected to dramatically change the character of the marsh, he said, adding, \u201cWe would like to increase the\nability to bring students down there.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith requested only that the board accept the final environmental impact statement for now. DOFAW will bring the master plan\u2019s components to the board for approval as more details become available, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Board member Chris Yuen said he understood the reasons for dialing down some of the projects that had been originally proposed. \u201cI get it. Kailua has been inundated with tourists,\u201d he said. However, he added, \u201cI just don\u2019t think this is a tourist generator.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuen floated the possibility of restoring some of the projects that were in the draft EIS. He asked Smith why the size of a proposed cultural center along Kapa\u2018a quarry road was reduced from 9,600 square feet to 7,200. \u201cIf people get funding for 9,600 square feet, why would that be bad?\u201d he asked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it would be,\u201d Smith replied. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mapuana DeSilva, kumu of Halau\nMohala \u2018Ilima and president of the Kailua\nHawaiian Civic Club, helped draft a plan for\nthe marsh decades ago to establish a place for\nHawaiian cultural practices. The plan was\nnever approved by the state, she said. \u201cAnd\nten planning documents later, we are still\nwaiting to do more than piecemeal work, to\ndo than a little bit here and a little bit there,\nto do more than beg for scraps at what was\nonce our table,\u201d she told the board.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough the FEIS does not give us\neverything we\u2019ve lobbied for, it gives us\nenough. Our worst fear for Kawainui [is\nthat] 38 years from now, our 80 year old\ndaughters will be asking for the same\nthings,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pauline MacNeil of the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle, on the other had, opposed the approval of the EIS, stating that DOFAW\u2019s modifications do not address her concerns about modern, permanent structures around the marsh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe growing public use that would occur\nover time, 100 years, would diminish rather\nthan improve water quality,\u2019 she said.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck \u201cDoc\u201d Burrows said he believed common ground between those with op- posing views could still be found and he chairs a group \u2014 Hui Kawainui Kailua Ka Wai Ola \u2014 focused on achieving that. Burrows has for years led native forest restoration efforts around the marsh, as well as educational and Hawaiian cultural programs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He testified in support of the EIS, with some reservations. \u201cAll these years, we\u2018ve been sort of working on the sidelines … in restoration and conducting environmental and cultural educational programs,\u201d he said. He lamented the removal of what he saw as central components of the plan. For example, an environmental educational center was replaced with a pavilion and restroom. \u201cFine. We can work with that,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, he said he appreciated Yuen\u2019s interest in putting back things that had been taken out of the plan, especially some of the trails and overlooks. \u201cWe take our volunteers as close to the marsh and in the marsh. … If the Kawainui education center comes into being, this will be the only area where the public can come to. We then could provide guided tours to schools and groups and visitors from abroad,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Members of \u2018Ahahui Malama i Ka Lokahi, which has a state permit to restore wetland habitat at the base of Na Pohaku o Hauwahine, and at the base of Ulupo Heiau, which overlooks the marsh, also supported putting some of the removed components back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Group president C. Lehuakona Isaacs\nsaid that the trails connect people to the\nenvironment and allow them to get out of\ntheir cars. They also provide access to areas\nin dire need of invasive species control.\n\u201cI think a lot of people do not realize the\nextent of the work that exists right now at\nKawainui,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaacs asked for the reinstatement of trails and a hale wa\u2018a (canoe house), among other things. \u201cOur vision is we would have a place for research, a place to hold presentations from people around the world who are prominent in cultural or ecological practices. This is not a big thing for tourists to visit. This is for our community,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biologist Steve Montgomery, the group\u2019s treasurer, described how rewarding it\u2019s been to be able to volunteer with groups restoring the marsh. It was \u201cone of the most satisfying things\u201d when \u2018alae \u2018ula, the Hawaiian moorhen, started showing up and nesting in areas where ponds were opened, he said. And as a longtime member of the National Wildlife Federation, whose motto is \u201cno child shall be left indoors,\u201d he said he was disappointed that DOFAW would leave out some of the trails and reduce the size of the\nproposed cultural center.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an executive session, Yuen made a motion to restore a number of things that were removed from the draft EIS, including trail segments, building areas and the number of proposed educational and cultural structures, two observation decks and interpretive pavillions and to remove a sentence about the marsh\u2019s Mokulana peninsula being used only for DOFAW management activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always better to include more in the discussion on the potential impacts than to try to put something in afterwards,\u201d board member Sam Gon said of Yuen\u2019s proposal. \u201cThis allows for a broader range of discussions and broader set of potentials. It does not guarantee they\u2019ll be met,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuen said he believed people should be\nencouraged to enjoy nature and that he\nwanted the Hawaiian community to have\nthe cultural sites they asked for.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gon added, \u201cPeople can be the bane of our environment, but they can also be the salvation of a place. Increased public, positive influence is better than benign neglect. The disconnection of the public from their places is a big problem.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The board unanimously approved Yuen\u2019s motion to approve the EIS with amendments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DOFAW\u2019s planner, Ron Sato of HHF Planners, said the changes to the EIS would take a few weeks to make. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

At the Land Board’s October 25 meeting, a representative of the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle pleaded with the board to minimize any improvements within the 986-acre Kawainui Marsh-Hamakua master plan project area. To appease concerns expressed by that group and others … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,460],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-11935","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\/11935","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=11935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}