Happily, a reprieve for Lyon Arboretum

We share the elation of the staff, scientists and volunteers at Lyon Arboretum that this crowning jewel of Manoa Valley is being reopened to the public Jan. 2.

We also share their frustration at the "overrreaction" on the part of the University of Hawai'i administration that resulted in the four-month closing of the 194-acre arboretum and wilderness area in the back of the valley.

Most important, we are saddened by the mismanagement that caused this episode.

When some staff members complained that conditions at the arboretum were deteriorating to the point of danger to them and to visitors, of course liability concerns had to become paramount.

But there's no excuse for UH to have allowed the arboretum to deteriorate in the first place.

This stretch of lushly wooded tropical rain forest is a magnificent resource. It's valuable for its critical research on endangered and rare native plants, its dozens of educational classes for the public and visits for schoolchildren, and as a source of plants for Hawai'i's gardeners.

Some of the plants maintained in those rotting cottages no longer exist in the wild. It's inconceivable that the university would allow the facilities that house them to deteriorate to the point where their continued existence had become a worry.

We hope all that is now behind us.

But this reprieve for the arboretum is not good enough. The university still has some amends to make, to the people who work at the arboretum, to the army of volunteers who have made it part of their lives and to members of the public who rely on its services and treasure its beauty.

The "walk about" set for 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 2, to mark the arboretum's reopening is a good opportunity to visit, but this lovely spot isn't meant for crowds. Another option perhaps would be to visit on following weekdays, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Both choices are an opportunity to help treasure this resource.