Updated at 6:17 p.m., Monday, December 17, 2007
Maui's Kula Forest Reserve closed for repairs
Advertiser Staff
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources today closed all public access to the Kula Forest Reserve on Maui due to hazardous conditions and damage caused by last week's storm, one a veteran Maui forester called the most severe he had ever seen on the island.DLNR information specialist Deborah Ward said the reserve has been closed since high winds and severe rains damaged portions of Kula Forest access road and uprooted and snapped trees and branches. Forestry crews will need to use heavy equipment to remove dirt on the road and fill in washed-out road areas, Ward said.
Fallen trees on the road and on forest trails must be cut and removed as well.
The forest reserve is closed at the white gate and the Skyline gate, and closure signs are posted. The reserve is closed to all hunters, hikers and mountain bikers.
Preliminary surveys of the forest indicate repair of damaged areas may keep the forest closed through February 2008, but that may change as the full extent of damage becomes known, said Ward.
