Kalaupapa, once a place of exile, now stands as place of refuge. As a dwindling number of Hansen’s disease patients live out their lives on Molokai’s remote northern peninsula by choice, not force, the National Park Service has wisely initiated a broad community conversation about how to expand Kalaupapa’s reach as an educational historic site in the coming decades, after the last patient dies.

It is a difficult conversation, fraught with emotion, but it is important to have it now. There are 16 Hansen’s disease patients left in Hawaii, about nine of whom live full time at Kalaupapa, ranging in age from their 70s to 90s. Past attempts to forge a long-term management plan for what is now a national historic park faltered, but kupuna seem more willing to participate now.

The National Park Service has put forth a viable proposal that deserves strong support. Its preferred Plan C, among four options open for public comment, would lift the cap of 100 sponsored-visitors per day and allow children to visit, a key improvement, without opening the floodgates to unfettered tourism. Daily arrival limits would persist by alternative mechanisms, which are open to public input. Visitors would continue to be escorted through most areas, not allowed to roam the grounds. Limited guest quarters would be available to overnight visitors, as they are now, but there would be no camping allowed, nor any new construction that would substantially expand visitor accommodations.

Day trips by schoolchildren, in particular, should be encouraged, for it may be the young who will most take to heart Kalaupapa’s many lessons. Students, now and in the future, need to learn much more about this long chapter in Hawaii’s history, which resonates today in so many realms, including matters of public health, religious commitment and indigenous rights.

As the Kalaupapa National Historical Park Draft General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement spells out, the primary story told at Kalaupapa is about the forced isolation of people afflicted with leprosy, now known as Hansen’s disease. More than 8,000 people died there, most of them Native Hawaiians, after King Kamehameha V banished the first person in 1866, trying to stem the spread of another contagious disease decimating a native population that had no immunity. The segregation was not formally lifted until 1969.

Father Damien and, later, Mother Marianne Cope, volunteered to care for the abandoned patients; their ministries at Kalaupapa are the basis for their sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church.

Today, the remaining patients live comfortably, aided by a contingent of state Department of Health employees, in a peaceful community that is a cultural, historic and spiritual touchstone. It must not only be preserved for future generations, but experienced and understood by more visitors, so that the difficult lessons learned there are never forgotten.

Before Kalaupapa became a Hansen’s disease settlement, Native Hawaiians had lived there for more than 900 years. Throughout the boundaries of the 10,725-acre national park exist remains of structures that were built over centuries. Kalaupapa is one of the most important archaeological sites in Hawaii, illustrating how ancient Hawaiians lived their daily lives. Special care must be taken throughout the planning process to ensure that indigenous rights are protected, including by preserving or enhancing access to burial sites and to traditional hunting and gathering sites.

The public hearings that began this week on Molokai and continue in Honolulu and online offer important forums to help shape Kalaupapa’s long-term future. Comments will be accepted through June 8 and can be submitted via http://parkplanning.nps.gov /kala.

The National Park Service’s restrained "preferred proposal" respects the sanctity of Kalaupapa and recognizes that welcoming more visitors must not disturb "the feel" of this place. Through the stories of the people who lived and died at Kalaupapa, we learn the meaning of sacrifice, resilience, hope and humanity. These lessons will resonate long after the last patient leaves this Earth.