{"id":16894,"date":"2026-01-07T12:16:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T22:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.environment-hawaii.org\/?p=16894"},"modified":"2026-06-23T11:52:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T21:52:07","slug":"as-haleakala-trail-injunction-takes-effect-dlnr-pleads-to-maintain-vehicular-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=16894","title":{"rendered":"As Haleakal\u0101 Trail Injunction Takes Effect, DLNR Pleads to Maintain Vehicular Access"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On January 1, the stay of an injunctive order that was initially set to take effect last April expired. This, despite efforts by the state to extend the stay or amend the order to give the Department of Land and Natural Resources and its agents vehicular access across points of the historic Haleakal\u0101 trail that intersect with Haleakal\u0101 Ranch roads used by resource managers to reach the mauka forests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the injunction, the six-foot-wide trail may only be used 1) for hiking, walking, or running by members of the public, 2) as an access for those exercising traditional and cultural rights or practices, or 3) by the Maui Department of Water Supply and Maui Electric Company to maintain utility infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The injunction was initially set to go into effect on April 1, but was stayed until a hearing in May, where the parties to the case \u2014 plaintiffs Public Access Trails Hawai\u02bbi and David Brown and the state defendants \u2014 agreed to a stipulation to stay until January 1 those parts of the order that limit how the trail can be used. This would allow resource management efforts to continue, including fire and invasive species control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The state committed to expeditiously work to get the trail surveyed and marked according to a metes-and-bounds survey approved by the court more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That survey was completed last October and showed that the trail does not intersect with Haleakal\u0101 Ranch\u2019s Olinda gate, as previously thought, but does cross the ranch\u2019s mauka roads at certain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Trail survey points with road intersections. Credit: DOFAW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

On December 19, less than two weeks before the stay was to expire, deputy attorney general Miranda Steed filed a motion on behalf of the DLNR and the Board of Land and Natural Resources to amend the order \u201cto remove the prohibitions against incidental uses of the subject trail for purposes other than hiking, walking, or running by DLNR and its agents where the trail crosses existing roads. This court has already accommodated critical public interests by amending the order twice to ensure continued access for Maui Electric Company, Limited and the County of Maui Department of Water Supply. The state seeks similar accommodation for equally essential conservation efforts and wildfire response access. Just as the court recognized the importance of utility infrastructure, the state asks the court to recognize the comparable public interest in maintaining these conservation initiatives and allow wildfire response through appropriate vehicular access,\u201d a memorandum in support of the motion states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A December 19 declaration by Scott Fretz, Maui branch manager for DLNR\u2019s Division of Forestry and Wildlife, stated that vehicular access to the roads mauka of Olinda Gate is critical for the division\u2019s management activities. In particular, Fretz stated that vehicular access to the roads was critical to stage and implement operations for DOFAW\u2019s Birds, Not Mosquitos project, which is aimed at suppressing mosquito populations to prevent avian malaria from driving the island\u02bbs critically endangered honeycreepers\u2014 the kiwikiu and \u0101kohekohe \u2014 to extinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project involves the weekly release of a batch of sterile, lab-reared male mosquitos that mate with wild female mosquitos that then produce no offspring. Fretz stated that missing just one release that required vehicular access to roads mauka of the Olinda gate would set the project back, as more wild females would then mate with wild males and produce offspring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout access through the Olinda Gate access, DOFAW cannot<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sustainably continue the Birds Not Mosquitoes project until alternative logistical<\/p>\n\n\n\n

arrangements are made, including construction of a new road, landowner<\/p>\n\n\n\n

agreements, and a significant increase in helicopter transport costs, expected to be<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per year,\u201d Fretz stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judge Cahill decided on December 26 to grant the state\u2019s application for a hearing on its motion to modify the order, but he set the hearing for March 27. Despite the state\u2019s request, Judge Cahill chose not to stay the order in the meantime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Teresa Dawson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Further Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more background on this, see the following stories, available on our website, www.environment-hawaii.org:<\/p>\n\n\n\n