Changes favored at Sacred Falls park

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer

HAU'ULA — People at a meeting last night on Sacred Falls' future repeatedly said that they want the area opened again, but that the state should change how the park is run.

They suggested educational uses, restoration of native plants and restricting some activities.

The informational meeting at Hau'ula Community Center was the first in a series to gather ideas and develop a vision for the state park, which was closed after a horrific rockslide in 1999 killed eight people and injured 50 others.

Suggestions included requiring visitors to see a video about the valley or get a permit to enter.

Elaine Chung, who lives across the street from the entrance to the 1,376-acre park, said it should reopen to hiking only. She said that even before the disaster, she thought too many people were going there to swim.

"I think you can enjoy the falls without swimming in it," said Chung, who would like to see the area become a preserve.

Jeff Merz, project manager for Oceanit, the consultant firm hired to recommend a master plan for Sacred Falls, said he will collect suggestions at the meetings, come up with three options and ask people to select one. However, he said, if the community wants more than one idea developed, it could be an option.

Only about 120 acres of the park have less than a 20-degree slope, Merz said, so most activities would likely be limited to that terrain.

Before people return to the area, they should be educated about respecting the land, said Haleaha Montes, who was born and raised in the Sacred Falls area. Too often people who go there leave their trash, destroy plants, and shout and swear, said Montes, who recalled how her grandfather would lecture her about respecting the land.

Leona Tupou wants the area open again so her children can go there. She would like to see hiking again but isn't too sure about swimming because of safety issues.

And when people do go there they should go at their own risk, so the state doesn't get sued and residents are denied access, Tupou said.

She said that as part of her children's Hawaiian immersion program at school, they learn about the land but "they can't fully know their land because it's illegal to go up there."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com. or 234-5266.