Two visitors look into the forested pit crater in Lower Kahuku (NPS Photo/J.Ferracane)

(BIVN) – A management plan is being developed for the 132,000-plus acres held by the National Park Service in Kaʻū, and community input is needed. 

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is inviting the public to provide comments on its Kahuku Unit Site Management Plan, which includes Upper and Lower Kahuku mauka of Highway 11 and the recently acquired Kahuku-Pōhue.

Native forest in Upper Kahuku (NPS Photo/D.Foster)

From the National Park Service:

The National Park Service (NPS) at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is preparing a comprehensive Site Management Plan for the NPS managed area of Kahuku referred to as the Kahuku Unit. This unit of the park is composed of three sub-areas: Upper Kahuku, Lower Kahuku, and Kahuku-Pōhue.

Together these areas straddle the Southwest Rift Zone of Maunaloa and extend across lava fields, coastal areas, pastures, forests, shrublands and mesic, subalpine, and desert environments in the Kaʻū District of Hawaiʻi County. The unit includes habitat for several species of federally listed endangered plants and animals and contains numerous cultural resources, including archeological sites, historic structures, ethnographic resources, and sacred sites.

The Site Management Plan (SMP) and the process of civic engagement are essential to define the types of visitor uses and functions for the Kahuku Unit. Called for in the 2016 General Management Plan, the SMP will refine the vision for the unit by assessing the facilities and access needs. The plan will also provide recommendations on implementing additional facilities and improving access.

The National Park Service says there are three ways to get involved:

Attend a public meeting

• Thursday, November 14 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Nāʻālehu Community Center, 95-5635 Hawaiʻi Belt Rd.
• Saturday, November 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Kahuku Visitor Contact Station, Māmalahoa Highway (Hwy 11) mile marker 70.5.

Attend a virtual meeting

• Tuesday, December 3 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at this online Zoom location 

Review the project Story Map and submit comments online

• Use the NPS Kahuku Site Management Plan website

“We urge the Kaʻū community to join us in this planning process,” said Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park Superintendent Rhonda Loh. “The site management plan presents ideas intended to balance the protection of cultural and natural resources with visitor access and recreation, and to nurture the connection generations of Kaʻū families have to these special places ma uka to ma kai.”

A corral in Upper Kahuku (NPS Photo/D.Foster)

The comment period for the Kahuku Unit Site Management Plan started on November 6 and will close on December 6, 2024 at 8:59 p.m. HST.