Posted on: Sunday, January 16, 2005

EDITORIAL
State parks initiative a drop in the bucket

By now it ought to be clear that the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, whose sprawling kuleana spans from state parks and small harbors to wildlife preservation and invasive species control, is woefully underfunded.

One clue is that there has been no major reconstruction of state parks restrooms since the system was established 40 years ago.

The good news is the state is working on a $15 million initiative to repair, replace or improve facilities at several state parks. The money will come from general obligation bonds and the hotel room tax.

New parking stalls with access aisles, renovated restrooms, improved concrete walkways, multilevel drinking fountains, new picnic tables and various signs are planned, says DLNR director Peter Young.

But most of the money will likely go to restroom repairs and related facilities. Roughly one-third of the 69 state parks have sewage systems that do not meet Environmental Protection Agency standards.

Meanwhile, there are state parks with washed-out hiking trails, weed-filled baseball diamonds, unreadable signs, broken water lines, burned-out lights, vandalized buildings and pothole-filled parking lots.

In sum, many of our state parks are the product of years of neglect, due primarily to budget cuts.

That's tragic for environmental and economic reasons; the deterioration of our parks tarnishes our image as an eco-friendly and visitor-friendly destination.

With all the competing needs before the Legislature, finding more money to fix the state parks is going to be tough.

But let's not forget the pres-ervation of Hawai'i as an archipelago of lush green forests, rare plants and wildlife, sandy beaches, turquoise waters, coral reefs — and well-maintained parks — is the responsibility of the DLNR. We must give them the resources to carry out this critical job.