Mu'olea under county oversight

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

WAILUKU, Maui — The Trust for Public Land and Maui County have completed a land deal that will protect historic Mu'olea Point, a 70-acre property on the coast between Hana and Kipahulu.

The trust announced it conveyed the land — worth more than $4 million — to the county after buying the property in September and holding it in trust for five months.

The county contributed just under $1 million to the purchase. Other funding came from a variety of public and private sources, including the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and a state grant.

The gently sloping land has been used for generations of local residents for fishing and swimming.

Archaeologist Patrick Kirch, former director of the Museum of Anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley, examined the property and said the land holds a potential treasure trove of cultural information.

It is home to some intact Hawaiian structures and there's also evidence of a large heiau. In the 1880s, King Kalakaua built a summer home on the land. The land also has a large stand of coconut trees directly descended from an original grove planted centuries ago.

The property will be managed by the county, with the help of an advisory group from Hana.

Reach Timothy Hurley at (808) 244-4880 or thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com.