With "the sheer volume" of information that the parks service has gathered, including input from bike tour companies, added to the upcoming holidays, she told The Maui News that the analysis team will need more time to complete a review of the data.

"We've taken the time to do this, let's do it right," she said.

The information gathering ended on Nov. 9, but the staff compiled 10 volumes of reports, comments and data – each volume containing about 200 to 300 pages.

Among those reports is a study by Wailuku attorney and bicycle enthusiast James H. Fosbinder, who has been retained by the Maui Bicycle Tour Association, made up of five companies providing guided downhill tours on Haleakala.

Fosbinder's summary says the bicycle tours down Haleakala "pose virtually no threat to other visitors in the park" and that it is an "energy efficient way of maximizing the park experience with no negative impact on the ecosystem."

Over 25 years since the tours began, bicycle tour operators have taken approximately 90,000 riders a year on the 36-mile downhill ride, his report said.

He argues that the downhill tour route is "relatively safe" based on a "low rate" of accidents. The Fosbinder report claims tour leaders have gone an estimated 7 million miles without a fatality and with few accidents of any severity.

He said there have been three bicycle fatalities in the park in the past 24 years, two of which occurred this year. When an accident resulted in a fatality, Fosbinder said it "has been the apparent result of severe rider error."

While she would not comment on any of the material received, Parris said she appreciated the time and the energy that all the bike companies put into the information they submitted to the park service.

The National Park Service Analysis Team will include a representative from the Maui County along with park service specialists from the Mainland.

It will convene in early December to begin reviewing the information, which includes submissions from tour operators, accident and incident reports, and other information from highways and safety agencies.

Findings of the analysis team will be presented in February to a NPS Pacific West Region Board of Review, which includes Parris. The park superintendent said the ban on guided tours through the park will remain in place until she makes a decision on whether or how tours will be permitted. She said her decision will be based on findings and recommendations of the analysis team as well as the regional board's discussions.

Bicycle tour companies banned from the park have set up alternative tours.