Involve nearby residents in marsh plan

There are many questions for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources/Parks and Recreation about aspects of the draft master plan for the Kawainui-Hamakua marshes:

»Will there be money or resources in the future to maintain the structures, trails and fences it builds? Will future governors and legislators be willing to cooperate and support this plan?

Many plans for the marshes have been made over the years, but few were acted upon. Previous maintenance efforts — predator control and vegetation maintenance at Hamakua, for example — were dependent on the availability of funds.

»Who will be responsible for measuring, monitoring and managing the impacts of human activities on the wildlife and then modifying those activities when necessary?

The plan refers to "adaptive management," but does not include a mechanism for such management.

»How high will the security fences have to be around the perimeter and between different marsh areas in order to keep drug dealers and homeless from using the structures and trails?

Pictures of fences proposed to keep out feral pigs, dogs, cats, etc., didn’t look all that sturdy.

»What about the effects on the marshes of sea level and water table rise due to climate change?

»How good are bioswales at actually filtering out gasoline and motor oil from water runoff next to roads and parking lots? How good are septic tank leach fields at actually cleaning up the human wastes (including antibiotics, hormones, anti-depressants and other chemicals) so that clean water eventually goes into the marsh?

At this point, would DLNR/Parks and Recreation speak with and listen to residents of the nearby comunities about the plan?

DLNR has been asked to bring all stakeholders together to discuss the plan, but it has not done so yet.

We would appreciate it answering our questions, listening to our concerns and informing us if ideas or assumptions are incorrect.

Toleration of any level of polarization or acrimony between groups doesn’t help; we need to communicate and reconcile our differences. Broad community understanding, cooperation and participation will be important to the implementation and maintenance of the plan.

Hawaiian cultural groups have long had DLNR’s ear; we hope it will listen also to the people who live in the community that surrounds the marshes. Kailua residents may be affected by aspects of the plan in ways that the Hawaiian cultural practitioners won’t be, if those practitioners live elsewhere on Oahu.

I understand and respect the Hawaiian cultural community’s right to use beautiful and culturally mean- ingful state land for activities such as teaching, practicing and perpetuating the culture and arts. Kawainui-Hamakua marshes were significant in Hawaiian legends and historically valuable for growing fish and taro. Areas with ancient Hawaiian artifacts, heiau and marsh areas are being restored and cared for by volunteers.

However, the marshes are also valuable natural wetlands and serve as a watershed catchment basin. They are state wildlife sanctuaries, designated as such by Executive Orders in 1997 and 2007-2008 to protect the wetlands as wildlife habitat.

Would it be possible to extend the June 30 deadline for submitting public comment on the draft master plan?

Until last week’s newspaper coverage, it seems few knew about the DLNR plans for the marshes.

Previous public informational meetings were evidently announced via a legal notice in the paper, which in practical terms means the wider public was not really notified. Not many people read legal notices; some community groups, however, were directly given a heads-up.