A road to the reserve first was closed Nov. 30 after a sweep of the reserve by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers discovered four objects of unexploded ordnance in lava fields, according to Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman Deborah Ward.

The corps officials had been searching the area late last month as a follow-up to the discovery of ordnance in the area a few months earlier, she said. That ordnance was disposed of at an Army firing range.

A state enforcement officer and Ahihi-Kinau resource rangers were posted at the parking lot of Kanahena, or "Dumps," to turn people away from the road into Ahihi-Kinau.

But the road was reopened Dec. 5, with the areas in the vicinity of the unexploded ordnance remaining closed off with "Danger Keep Out" tape. The objects were ordnance more than 40 years old, located some distance from the road, Ward said.

"These did not pose a big enough threat to close the entire road and prevent access to a much larger area with no immediate threat," she said.