About a dozen parks employees began clearing a nearly 300-yard section of shoreline at 6 a.m. They were initially accompanied by at least two Maui police officers, but there were no confrontations, Pat Rocco, Central Maui District supervisor and acting chief of recreation for the Department of Parks and Recreation, told The Maui News.

Police "were just here in case we had a problem, and we didn't have a problem," she said. "This was better than we thought. The people were cooperative."

One woman was packing up her belongings when parks crews arrived, but she left a short time later. Other people had cleared their own campsites and had left piles of rubbish for cleanup crews to haul away.

Only one campsite still looked occupied. A tent remained intact. It contained bedding, a discarded flier announcing the park cleanup and clothes as well as other items such as electronic gear. Parks employees picked up the belongings and moved them to a storage facility for 24 hours before they would dispose of the materials.

Parks employees were joined in the cleanup by a crew of about eight Maui Community Correctional Center inmates.

"We're ahead of schedule," said Rocco, who thought the cleanup might be completed today. Officials had earlier announced the park would be closed through Friday, not reopening until 6 a.m. Saturday.

A small dog, perhaps a Chihuahua or a terrier, was seen roaming the area Wednesday morning, but workers were unable to catch it, said county spokeswoman Mahina Martin. She said the Maui Humane Society would be called to conduct a sweep for abandoned pets.

When the area is cleared, parks officials will monitor the area more closely, said Zachary Helm, parks deputy director.

"Our main goal is to prevent people from coming back," he said.

A park ranger will watch the park to ensure homeless campsites don't return, but "we don't have the manpower to have someone here 24/7," Helm said.

Beginning July 1, six new park ranger positions will be added to the parks department, he said. Five of those will be on Maui, one on Molokai. But it probably will take about four months to get the new employees on board, he said.

Contrary to at least one claim, no campers had been given more time to vacate the area, Martin said. Camping is illegal in most areas of the park, except in a designated area where camping is allowed, with permits. Other areas have signs showing where camping is not allowed.

Following the first phase of the park cleanup, another section of the park – extending from the area currently being cleaned up to the Kahului Wastewater Reclamation Facility – will be cleared and reclaimed for public use.

The same procedure would be used for the second phase, with illegal campers given ample warning to move out, she said. The next phase could begin in a couple of months, and the entire park should be cleared by the end of the year.

The Kanaha project is on a smaller scale than the cleanup of the Kahului breakwater in late March and early April 2006. Then, workers needed a backhoe and front-end loaders to clear tons of trash and to haul away dozens of abandoned cars that had accumulated in a tent city of as many as 140 people.

The Kanaha cleanup was carefully planned to be sensitive to homeless people while still reclaiming the park for general public use, Martin said. The action was aimed at stopping a large group of homeless from settling down at Kanaha and avoiding a repeat of the Kahului breakwater situation, she said.

In March, outreach workers counted 83 homeless individuals in the Kanaha area, said Human Concerns Deputy Director Lori Tsuhako.

Campers interviewed by The Maui News on Monday said they lived at the beach because they're unable to afford Maui's high housing costs, including rent and utilities. Some indicated they choose to camp on the shoreline because they enjoy the peace and open space of the area.

County officials said that as they informed illegal campers that they would need to move out to make way for the cleanup, they offered assistance in finding housing and providing other services such as mental health care and substance abuse counseling.

Housing assistance is available from Ka Hale A Ke Ola Homeless Resource Center, 242-7600; the Family Life Center, 877-0880; the Salvation Army, 877-3042; Maui Economic Opportunity Inc., 249-2990; and Rental (Housing) Assistance, 270-7751.

Other resources are available from the Parks Permit Office (for legal camping permits), 270-7389; and the Maui Humane Society, 877-3680.