Lawmaker blamed in watering down of trail-injury bill

The scope of a bill designed to protect the state from costly lawsuits filed on behalf of outdoor enthusiasts injured or killed on state land is now unclear, and some of its supporters say a state lawmaker with conflicting interests is to blame.

Numerous hikers, bikers, climbers, paragliders and other thrill-seekers have called for a bill that would decrease the state’s liability on land it doesn’t maintain, such as offshoot hiking trails and popular rock-climbing spots, with the hope that such a measure could lead to better access to public land.

Two years ago the state blocked access to a popular rock-climbing wall in Moku­­leia after a 12-year-old girl was critically injured by a falling rock. Also in 2012, the state settled a lawsuit related to a hiking death for more than $15 million.

Mike Richardson, owner of Climb Aloha, a rock-climbing shop in Hono­lulu, said community members working closely with the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the state attorney general’s office have come to the conclusion that both sides can benefit from increasing the state’s protection from liability on public land.

"As taxpayers (we believe) these two issues are just absolutely interlinked," Richardson said.

When Senate Bill 1007 was introduced last year, the first year of a two-year session, it proposed excluding "voluntary trails" — defined in part as "trails, paths or routes created by hikers or other users of public land" — from the definition of "improved public lands" such as state parks. The bill crossed over to the House for consideration last session but needed to be vetted by two more House committees.

The attorney general submitted testimony saying the state wouldn’t have been held liable for the 2006 deaths of two visitors who fell from a "voluntary trail" forged at Kauai’s Opae­kaa Falls state park if the proposed definition had been law.

The case was settled out of court in 2012 for $15.4 million, and DLNR has kept the site closed since.

House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Karl Rhoads (D, Chinatown-Iwi­lei-Kalihi) amended the bill earlier this year to include a provision suggested by the attorney general that would ensure liability protection where warning signs are posted. He also added language to prevent the June expiration of a 2003 law passed to create a system for posting warning signs on improved public lands.

During a hearing held April 3, Rep. Sylvia Luke, chairwoman of the House Finance Committee, stripped the bill, keeping only the part that would preserve the signage law.

Twenty-two individuals filed a complaint Thursday with the state Ethics Commission contending that Luke (D, Punchbowl-Pauoa-Nuu­anu) should have recused herself from the legislative process because she’s an attorney with the personal injury firm Cronin Fried Sekiya Kekina and Fairbanks, and her firm could benefit from liability lawsuits.

The commission’s executive director, Les Kondo, said he received the complaint and that the commission "will take a look at the complaint and determine whether further investigation or action is warranted." Luke said Friday she had not yet seen the complaint, but plans to cooperate with the commission.

State ethics law bars employees from taking official action that would affect a personal financial interest, but state statute excludes legislators from its definition of employee.

Luke said her chief concern is the state’s interest and that she favors liability protection through a system in which people who want to engage in hazardous activities on state land can obtain a permit through DLNR and sign a waiver. Access to dangerous areas then could be limited to permit holders, she said.

Rep. Cindy Evans (D, Kaupulehu-Wai­mea-Hala­­ula), chairwoman of the House Water and Land Committee, who will head up the House’s side of a conference committee on the bill, said the waiver idea has merit but that all options can still be considered at this point.

With state lawmakers headed into the session’s final legislative deliberations, Evans said, "I think we have another week to go, and it’ll be interesting to see if there’s more input from other people."