The cascading Pools of Oheo and 400-foot Waimoku Falls are among the natural wonders awaiting those willing to brave winding Hana Highway to reach the remote Kipahulu District of Haleakala National Park.
Although the coastal section of the park in East Maui attracts fewer visitors than the Summit District, it is suffering some of the same woes — overcrowding, traffic jams, damage to resources — that forced National Park Service officials to restrict sunrise visits to the top of the 10,000-foot volcano.
In an effort to ease those problems, improve the visitor experience and address safety concerns, a proposed comprehensive plan for the Kipahulu District favors a permit or reservation system similar to what’s in effect at the summit — including use of wristbands — for visitors to the famed Pools of Oheo.
The National Park Service’s preferred alternative in the Kipahulu Comprehensive Plan/Environmental Assessment also envisions spending $7 million to expand the visitor center, trails, picnic areas, campgrounds, fee station and maintenance facilities, and create an orientation plaza, enclosed arboretum, staff housing, overflow parking lot and viewing platform at Waimoku Falls while also increasing Hawaiian cultural programs.
The improvements and the addition of nearly five employees would require $2.51 million in annual operating costs, $738,000 more than if no action were taken, according to the plan. However, if approved, the projects “would be implemented over many, many years as staff and funding are available,” said Linette King, compliance coordinator at Haleakala National Park, in an email.
Public comment on the document is being accepted through Wednesday.
In 2017 an estimated 800,000 people visited the Kipahulu District, which offers hiking trails through tropical rainforests and sweeping views from seaside cliffs and along a stream flowing through Oheo Gulch. The park’s most popular — and deadliest — attraction is the Pools of Oheo, formerly known as Seven Sacred Pools, where flash flooding, falling rocks and risky behavior by visitors have resulted in a number of fatalities in recent years.
After a rockslide injured a visitor in January 2017, park officials closed the pools. King said the site remains off-limits due to a broken stream-monitoring system that warns of flash flooding.
Acknowledging high visitor demand, the preferred Alternative 2 proposal calls for reopening the pools to visitors “at their own risk.”
In addition to wristbands, reservations and permits, another possible restriction is to allow only 117 people at a time in the water, a number based on the linear feet of shoreline.
The plan said the improved facilities and more diverse activities would disperse visitors throughout the park and ease overcrowding at any one place, as well as provide more opportunities for visitors to learn about Hawaiian culture and supply adequate maintenance and operations facilities.
The National Park Service held a series of public meetings during the years-long planning process, the latest of which was Oct. 15.
“A theme we heard at the meeting is the community wanting the small, local feeling and rural characteristics of Kipahulu to be preserved,” King said. “The park is committed to working with the community and finding ways to balance increasing visitation, resource protection and allowing Kipahulu to remain the unique, beautiful place that it is.”
The plan notes there are differing opinions among stakeholders about whether the area should remain in a natural state without over-management by the Park Service, or whether additional park presence is needed “to guide appropriate visitor behavior.” But there was widespread agreement that improvements should reflect traditional Hawaiian construction techniques and materials and that any development footprint be kept to a minimum to preserve scenic views, the document noted.
Other concerns expressed during the scoping process include better crowd control and protection of cultural resources; erosion and vegetation damage on horse and hiking trails; water quality in the pools being affected by sunscreen chemicals; the spread of invasive species by hikers straying off marked trails and horseback riding; and traffic backups on Hana Highway from long lines of vehicles waiting to enter the park.
Commenters also would like to see additional opportunities for visitors to connect to the area’s natural and cultural resources, including providing better access to the historic Kanalulu House and Kapahu Living Farm, a restored ancient kalo farm currently managed through a cooperative agreement with the nonprofit Kipahulu ‘Ohana.
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Comments on the Kipahulu Comprehensive Plan/ Environmental Assessment will be accepted until Wednesday.
>> Electronically: parkplanning.nps.gov/HALEKCP
>> Mail: Haleakala National Park, Attn: Linette King, P.O. Box 369, Makawao, HI 96768
>> Hand delivery: Summit or Kipahulu visitor centers
Proposed plan for Haleakala National Park Kipahulu District by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd
