Welcome to savekokee.org, official website for
Kaua`i Community - One Voice for Koke`e,
a community effort to sustain and protect Koke`e and Waimea Canyon State Parks.
Kauai's Living Treasures speak out...
It is May 2008.
Our Letter to the Editor of THE GARDEN ISLAND NEWSPAPER, May 1, 2008
UPDATE: KŌKE`E MASTER PLAN
It is the calm before the storm. We must be ready to rally again at a moment's notice to save Kōke`e and Waimea Canyon State Parks
from being used as a "cash cow" for statewide DLNR operations.
It has been over a year since our community spoke with one, very clear and articulate, voice in response to the
DLNR's proposals to commercialize Kōke`e and Waimea Canyon State Parks. (These proposals are contained in a 2004 Master Plan
and a subsequent Draft EIS issued in 2006.) The DLNR received over 1,000 letters and emails from Kaua`i residents as well
as many from off-island Hawai`i residents and visitors. Thousands of people signed petitions. The message: our precious
Kōke`e is perfect just as it is.
We were initially told that a final revised Master Plan would come before the Board of Land and Natural Resources by December 2006.
That date was postponed in part due to the extraordinary outcry from the community, continuing long after the August 7, 2006 "cut-off"
date for public input. The date for adoption of the revised master plan (which we still have never seen) has yet to be set.
In February of 2007, we, together with David Boynton, presented a Ho`opono Community Master Plan for Kōke`e and Waimea Canyon parks
to Peter Young, then-head of the DLNR, and Ron Agor, our Kaua`i BLNR representative. We worked to make only those changes to the
original master plan that would ensure that public use would never compromise the integrity of the mountain's natural resources or
its important cultural, spiritual and historic values. Many of the DLNR's original proposals (calling for maintenance and repair)
were left in our community plan. However, we never heard from Mr. Young again. Later that spring, his reappointment was not
confirmed; the new head of DLNR is Laura Theilen.
We forwarded the Ho`opono Community master plan to Ms. Thielen and then met with her in early November 2007. She had not read it.
To her credit, she is quite candid about her position with respect to Kōke`e and Waimea Canyon State Parks. She believes that Kōke`e
and Waimea Canyon State Parks must be commercialized to fund statewide DLNR activities.
Per Ms. Thielen, DLNR does not have adequate resources to pay for its statewide obligations and cannot count on the legislature
for funding. She expects the situation to worsen in the coming years. Therefore, Ms. Thielen's position is that the best source
of funding for DLNR activities is from our state parks-- and currently Kōke`e is Hawai`i's premier state park, and therefore the
park with the greatest revenue-generation potential. Auwe!
In summary:
• Although the DLNR has stated that a "revised" master plan is complete, there has never been a revised version of
the master plan or a final EIS made available for public review. We don't yet know for certain what either will look like.
• Ron Agor, Kaua`i's Board of Land and Natural Resources representative, has stated that he has not been able to secure
a copy of the revised master plan, though he understands that it was finished some time ago.
• Ron Agor has promised to provide us with a copy of the revised master plan as soon as he receives it and that he
is able to set the date of the BLNR meeting at which this "new" master plan will be adopted.
• Ron Agor has also promised that the BLNR meeting to adopt the master plan will be set, on Kaua`i, not earlier than
3 months after we receive a copy of the master plan.
• Based upon DLNR staff comments and our meeting with Ms. Theilen, we can expect that the final master plan will
largely focus on revenue-generating proposals that, interestingly, also involve expenditure of enormous sums both upfront
and over the long-term. These will be couched in terms such as "enhancing the user experience", "meeting visitation levels",
"upgrades", "improvements to better serve park visitors", etc. The plan will likely include tearing down all existing
buildings at the meadow to replace them with a "visitor's center", a new museum, a books and "sundries" gift shop,
restaurant, and other commercial ventures; permanent as well as truck and kiosk concessions at lookouts (for "beverages,
food sundries and souvenirs"); a fee booth or entry station; lower elevation "pull off" area with restroom and parking lot
at mile 4; and vague plans for increasing overnight accommodation.
• Please check savekokee.org for on-going updates as we receive them.
Generations of Kaua`i residents have hiked into the forests and along the trails of Kōke`e and Waimea, have gathered,
have hunted, have fished, have nurtured their families, and have found spiritual solace in this special place. As a
community, we have consistently and urgently called upon the DLNR, the agency given the responsibility of holding our
state parks in trust for the people of Hawai`i, to protect our mountain from commercialization, to protect the fragile
gifts the mountain contains into the distant future. Our state parks exist in a complex context of geography, biology,
economics and politics; without ho`opono, what was originally set aside for protection can be destroyed forever.
Nancy J. Budd
Margaret Ezekiel
Kehaulani Kekua, Kumu Hula - Halau Palaihiwa O Kaipuwai
WE ARE ACTIVELY WAITING TO RECEIVE A COPY OF THE MASTER PLAN THAT WILL DETERMINE THE FUTURE OF OUR BELOVED PARKS
We ask our members to please STAND BY AND BE READY!
BE READY ONCE AGAIN TO WRITE LETTERS AND SEND EMAILS, BE READY AT A MOMENT'S NOTICE TO MAKE PHONE CALLS AND URGE EVERYONE TO SHOW UP AT WHAT
WILL BE OUR MOST CRUCIAL MEETING WITH THE BOARD OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES.
JOIN US IN OUR EFFORT TO SAVE KOKE`E FROM COMMERCIALIZATION!
We will notify by email those who sign up at www.savekokee.org when your presence is needed to
testify at the up-coming, but as yet unannounced, meeting with the BLNR.
Please continue to check our website for the most current information.
HB2873 UPDATE
WE ARE VERY DISAPPOINTED TO REPORT THAT HB2873, CLARIFYING THAT THE CONSERVATION OF PARK RESOURCES AND VALUES IS THE PREDOMINANT
CONCERN OF THE STATE PARK SYSTEM, WAS DEFERRED BY THE COMMITTEE ON WTL ON FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 2008.
FOR THE CURRENT STATUS ON SB2528, SD2 PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK:
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/bills/SB2528_HD1_.htm
IT SEEMS THAT THE DLNR IS DETERMINED TO DEVELOP AND COMMERCIALIZE KOKEE AND WAIMEA STATE PARKS FOR THE PURPOSE OF REVENUE
GENERATION AND THAT IF THEY ARE ALLOWED TO PREVAIL, CONSERVATION WILL TAKE A BACK-SEAT TO THE EXPLOITATION OF OUR PARKS FOR
MONETARY GAIN.
WE CANNOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN!
PLEASE CONTINUE TO SEND IN YOUR TESTIMONY AS NECESSARY - WE WILL KEEP YOU INFORMED.
SAVE KŌKE`E NOW
