Sacred Falls could reopen as natural reserve
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
HAU'ULA — More than four years after a deadly landslide prompted officials to close Sacred Falls, the state is considering options for the future of the area including the possibility of designating part of it a natural reserve, possibly the first step toward reopening the popular attraction to limited public use.
• What: Sacred Falls public information meeting • When: 6 p.m. today • Where: Hau'ula Community Center, 54-010 Kukuna Road
For two years, the Kaluanui Advisory Group and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which manages the falls property, have been discussing options for the 1,376-acre state park.
At a glance
They will be unveiled in a series of public meetings beginning tonight in Hau'ula, just up the road from the site of one of the worst wilderness accidents in modern Hawai'i history.
"The consensus so far is they would like to see it open up," said Creighton Mattoon, a member of the advisory group. "To what extent, that's still in discussion."
The state closed Sacred Falls State Park after the 1999 Mother's Day landslide in which eight people died and 50 others were injured when tons of rock plummeted 600 feet to the bottom of the falls.
About 55,000 people used to visit the falls each year, hiking the 2.2-mile trail that gently ascends a lush canyon, ending at a waterfall and swimming hole.
But the landslide and resulting lawsuit — in which the state was found liable because it failed to adequately warn visitors about the danger — made government liability an overriding issue in Hawai'i and influenced a range of decisions involving public land. The park has remained closed since.
The session tonight is the first in a series of community meetings aimed at developing a master plan and an appropriate use for the area, said Lauren Tanaka, state park planner.
Designating the park a natural area reserve is an option that could open the property to limited use, Tanaka said.
"There's more restrictive access to a natural area reserve system," she said. "The public can use it but it's more limited because their basic objective is to preserve the resources there."
Tanaka said hikers, pig hunters and Hawaiian cultural practitioners want the area open. All were represented on the advisory group, which included the Pig Hunters Association, the Ko'olauloa Hawaiian Civic Club, the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center, the La'ie Community Association and Malama 'Ohana, said Mattoon.
The state has hired consultant Oceanit for $235,000 to conduct a risk assessment of Sacred Falls and create a master plan with input from the community, Tanaka said, adding that the contract includes a flora and fauna survey, cultural impact assessment and archaeological information.
A natural area reserve is being considered for the upper portion of the falls and the lower portion could be designated as a fish reserve for the protection of the hihiwai snail and other native species, Tanaka said.
Changing the designation from park to natural reserve would help change the public's perception of the area, she said.
"When you call a place a park it connotes a certain level of public use," Tanaka explained. "If it's a natural area reserve with certain rules applying there's less likely to be a whole lot of people coming in. Those who use the area for hiking and fishing do it with a different perspective."
Whether this would reduce liability is unclear but it could result in fewer people visiting the area, said Randy Kennedy, manager for the DLNR's Natural Area Reserve program. However, the land under consideration for natural reserve is above the waterfall and does not include the lower land, Kennedy said.
Making that land a forest reserve might be more applicable, he said.
Pig hunters are interested in partnering with the state to help control feral pigs in the community, said Pascual Dabis, president of the Pig Hunters Association. The park is not a public hunting ground and hunters aren't allowed there now.
But feral pigs can become a nuisance and Dabis said his group can help, as it is doing in Makiki, Pauoa, Manoa, Nu'uanu and 'Aiea.
Dayle Turner, a member of the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, said while the club understands the government shutdown of trails for safety and liability reasons, the falls trail should be reopened.
"We'd like to see access to all hiking venues open," he said. "Any place where there's hiking and we can enjoy natural beauty, we want to go there."
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
