News & Information

Mahalo to everyone who provided manaʻo for the Waikapuna management plan for your time and effort. A Draft Plan is now available for review here. We will also be holding a meeting on Wednesday, March 22nd from 6:30 – 8 pm to share the draft management plan and to receive feedback. The meeting will be hosted virtually using the Zoom platform. Please see meeting details below.

COMMUNITY MEETING ON DRAFT WAIKAPUNA RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PLAN

Date:  Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Time: 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Via Zoom

Log on at: www.zoom.com

Meeting ID: 894 9322 7063 

Passcode: kau 

Dial-in: (253) 215-8782 (Audio only)

Meeting ID: 894 9322 7063

Passcode: 545091       

A hard copy of the draft plan will be available at the Nāʻālehu Public Library and Pahala Public Library later this month. Comments on the draft plan may be submitted online or e-mailed to gabrielle@townscapeinc.com. We will be accepting comments until April 22, 2023.

Gabrielle Sham

Associate Planner

900 Fort Street Mall, Suite 1160

Honolulu, Hawaii 96813

Phone: (808) 536-6999 (option 5)

Fax:  (808) 524-4998

Email: gabrielle@townscapeinc.com

Website: www.townscapeinc.com

Thursday, June 16, 2022 - HCCK Meeting w/NPS, HACBED re: Pōhue Bay Purchase

Pōhue Bay preserved from mauka to makai

More than 16,000 acres preserved by National Park Service and Trust for Public Land

Pristine Pōhue Bay and beach is now protected as part of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

NPS Photo/S.Roper-Todd

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News Release Date: July 12, 2022

Contact: Jessica Ferracane, 808-985-6018

Contact: Catherine Coleman, 808-265-0073

Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi Island - Today, Trust for Public Land (TPL) transferred ownership and stewardship of Pōhue Bay to the National Park Service, preserving the area’s unique natural and cultural resources from development. The 16,451-acre parcel—from Māmalahoa Highway to the shoreline—is now part of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. 

“Aloha ʻāina begins with our commitment to preserving our islands’ precious natural and cultural systems,” said Lea Hong, Associate Vice President, Hawaiian Islands State Director for Trust for Public Land. “We are grateful the National Park Service will steward the area with the support of the community, ensuring the history, culture and natural beauty of this place are protected for future generations.”

Trust for Public Land purchased Pōhue Bay for over $9.4 million funded by theLand and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and a catalytic donation by the Wyss Foundation. Trust for Public Land transferred ownership and stewardship of Pōhue Bay to the National Park Service so the area’s native ecosystems and cultural treasures would be well cared for and preserved. Trust for Public Land has also donated $800,000 to the Friends of Volcanoes National Park to support the National Park Service’s management of Pōhue Bay. 

Pōhue Bay has been the subject of several resort development proposals, however, community members identified the Pōhue Bay property as one of the highest priority acquisition/expansion areas in the Kaʻū Community Development Plan, and the acquisition of Pōhue is recommended in the 2016 Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park General Management Plan. 

Before the land transfer, NPS took proactive steps and met with community members in partnership with TPL and the Hawaiʻi Alliance for Community-Based Economic Development (HACBED) to better understand the land's cultural, historical and ecological significance. This preliminary process will continue over the next several months. Until a Pōhue interim operating plan is completed, and safe access protective of cultural and natural resources can be ensured, public access is temporarily restricted. There are no bathroom facilities or capacity for trash removal, and emergency response is very limited. Portions of the current jeep trail and pedestrian routes to the coastline pass through private lands not managed by the park.

“Pōhue is an incredibly precious and culturally significant landscape that needs to be protected. We are actively seeking community feedback to get a better understanding of the natural and cultural resources in the area,” said Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park Superintendent Rhonda Loh. “The park is working to develop an interim operating plan for Pōhue that explores opportunities for public use compatible with resource protection. We thank the community for your patience and for the manaʻo shared so far,” Loh said. 

A public meeting will be held at the Ocean View Community Center on Saturday, August 13 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., and additional meetings will be announced soon. 

Pōhue Bay is home to numerous well-preserved and significant Hawaiian cultural sites, including the largest recorded abrader quarry in Hawaiʻi, lava tubes, burial site, mauka-makai (mountain to sea) trails, fishing shrines, remains of once-thriving coastal villages, and petroglyphs. A well-preserved portion of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail or Ala Loa, an ancient coastal trail system, hugs the coastline.

The Pōhue coastline is also critical habitat for federally listed endangered Hawaiian species, including the Hawaiian hawksbill turtle (honu‘ea) and Hawaiian monk seal. Rare endemic ʻōpaeʻula (red shrimp) live in the area’s anchialine ponds, and the bay is often frequented by native and migratory birds, including ʻiwa (frigate bird), koaʻe kea (white tailed tropic bird), kōlea (golden plover), ʻūlili (wandering tattler) and ʻaukuʻu (black crowned night heron).

About Trust for Public Land 

Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national nonprofit that works to connect everyone to the benefits and joys of the outdoors. As a leader in equitable access to the outdoors, TPL works with communities to create parks and protect public land where they are needed most. Since 1972, TPL has protected more than 3 million acres of public land, created more than 5,000 parks, trails, schoolyards, and iconic outdoor places, raised $84 billion in public funding for parks and public lands, and connected more than 9 million people to the outdoors. To learn more, visit tpl.org.

About the National Park Service

More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 423 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. 

About the Wyss Foundation

In 2018 Hansjörg Wyss and the Wyss Foundation met the nature crisis by launching the Wyss Campaign for Nature. Wyss has committed $1.5 billion to the Campaign before the end of this decade, supporting Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and nations in their efforts to protect 30% of the planet by 2030.

The recorded videos of the community meeting and four speak-out sessions can be found on the ATA website at the link below. 

http://www.alakahakaitrail.org/kakoo-kau

March 17, 2021: Important Manākaʻa Update:

Because other conservation projects were ranked above Manākaʻa (ranked # 3) and the project is only eligible for a small partial Legacy Land Conservation Program award in fiscal year 2021, we were not able to raise sufficient acquisition funds and could not offer to buy the property from the landowner. The Trust For Public Land continued to negotiate with the landowner, but the owner rejected our offers and could not wait for us to raise and secure sufficient public funding for the conservation acquisition. In the interim, the landowner decided to lower their listing price, putting the property at increased and severe risk of being sold and developed.

However, The Trust for Public Land (TPL) and Ala Kahakai Trail Association (ATA) worked to find another conservation solution that could meet the landowner’s asking price, timeline and urgent need to sell. TPL and ATA applied for and received a grant from a private philanthropic foundation to allow ATA to acquire a Conservation Easement over the property.  This easement will keep the land in agriculture and protect its cultural and natural resources including the trail system. The landowner recently put the property under contract to sell to a private buyer.  At closing, the buyer has agreed to convey and grant a conservation easement to ATA in order to protect the property’s agricultural, cultural, and natural resources in perpetuity.

Therefore, ATA notified the Legacy Land Conservation Program (Department of Land and Natural Resources) that we are withdrawing our grant application for acquisition funding for Manākaʻa so that the funding can go to other worthy conservation projects.

Kiolaka'a Still Needs Our Kōkua!

Although ATA has found an alternative conservation solution for Manākaʻa, we are still in need of support and funding from the Legacy Land Conservation Program to protect Kiolaka’a.  The Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) has not scheduled this yet, but we expect the BLNR to reconsider the grant award for Kiolaka’a at either the meeting on April 9 or April 23.  Another notice will be sent via email once this agenda item has been scheduled so you know when and how to submit written or oral testimony in support.

Mahalo for your aloha, participation and commitment to protect our Kaʻū coastline.

Questions? Please contact Keoni Fox of Ala Kahakai Trail Association.

Email: fox@alakahakaitrail.org