Group News: Hawaiʻi Island, Maui, Oʻahu, and Kauaʻi
Hawaiʻi Island Group
Calling all friends of Hawaiʻi!
by Robert Culbertson, Hawaiʻi Island Group member | Reading time: 2 minutes
What’s it going to take to stop the ravage of Hawaiʻi’s reefs by tropical fish collectors? The answer very clearly is… a tsunami of human voices, including those who care about Hawaiʻi, even from beyond its sun drenched shores!
Think globally and act locally
Yellow tang school, Hawaiʻi Island. Photo: NOAA.
Many people from around the world are surprised when the come here to learn of the devastation to our reefs caused by the aquarium collecting trade; or that 95-99% of all tropical fish for sale in pet stores are wild caught. Beautiful yellow tangs were once one of the most abundant herbivores on our reefs, have been captured in limitless numbers from Hawaiʻi’s fragile reefs for decades.
On Oʻahu reefs where collecting has occurred, research shows they have been depleted by 93%. And in West Hawaiʻi alone, the aquarium trade has taken more plant-eating fish (crucial for coral reef health) than all subsistence, recreational, and commercial food fishing combined.
Besides leading to widespread coral damage, illegal poaching, and major population declines for fish like yellow tangs, the aquarium trade inherently conflicts with Native Hawaiian values.
But now, Native Hawaiians and marine-protection groups have petitioned Hawaiʻi’s Board of Land and Natural Resources to ban the collection of reef wildlife for aquariums, once and for all.
Most likely, at the board’s next meeting December 8, it should decide whether or not to support this petition, and if so, the state will need to move forward on the proposal and hold public hearings to get further direct input, streamlining a process that has so far been effectively used only to perpetuate this unrighteous and utterly destructive activity in our waters.
The rule-making sought in this petition is the only process that will provide the opportunity for the public’s long and strongly held thoughts and desires to be truly heard and ultimately integrated into marine management policy.
And the good news is, you don’t have to be a marine biologist to make your case. Your ‘biophilia’ is all it takes.
So, between December 1 through December 6, simply talk about your experiences, appreciation, and the concerns you have for the wonderful but fragile life forms you have enjoyed - and which deserve to remain in the places nature intended, amid more honorable forms of stewardship which native people continue to exercise.
Send your comments to the board at blnr.testimony@hawaii.gov. You can see sample testimony and get more details here.
Also, for a deeper dive into this petition, its history, and the actions that have kept the collectors out of the water these last few years, go to https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/F-3.pdf.
Let us have abundance again!
Mauna Kea is a place of significant cultural and environmental value
by Deborah Ward, Hawaiʻi Island Group member | Reading time: 5.5 minutes
The State Historic Preservation Division’s Hawaiʻi Historic Review Board recently met to consider expanding the designation of Mauna Kea summit and surrounding region as a Traditional Cultural Property. The positive decision affirms the importance of Mauna Kea as a wahi pana of great significance. The Sierra Club provided supporting testimony:
Sierra Club Hawaiʻi Island Group is in strong support of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou’s nomination of Mauna Kea as a Traditional and Cultural Property. Mauna Kea is a sacred wahi pana, treasured by Kānaka Maoli cultural practitioners, today and for many generations past. Formal recognition of Mauna Kea as a TCP is long overdue. We encourage SHPD to nominate Mauna Kea as a Traditional and Cultural Property on the state and national Registers of Historic Places.
Our support is consistent with Sierra Club policy, enacted in 2010, that “the Sierra Club Hawaiʻi Chapter is committed to build community alliances to foster the identification, understanding, education, protection and preservation of the integrated cultural and environmental landscape of Mauna Kea and the Mauna Kea Science Reserve”. Our club has been involved with testimony and consultation to protect the summit region from industrial development since the 1970’s, and litigation to protect the cultural and environmental values associated with the summit region since 2003. Our members have provided expert consultation to the Office of Mauna Kea Management on committees including the Environment Committee and the Management Board.
Members of our club have been involved in archaeological surveys since the 1980’s, including the work conducted in the 1970-80s by Bishop Museum cited by Patrick McCoy and Robert Nees, in the Archaeological Inventory Survey of the Mauna Kea Ice Age Natural Area Reserve, published in 2013, who noted that while the survey was largely related to the NAR and adze quarry,
“the survey data have made it possible to discuss specific cultural practices associated with each place, such as pilgrimages to the summit, Kūkahau‘ula.” Authors went on to note that “A large number of the historic properties in the NAR are located within the proposed boundaries of the Mauna Kea Summit Region Historic District (Site 50-10-23- 26869). The recently completed archaeological inventory surveys of the Mauna Kea Science Reserve and the NAR confirms that the Mauna Kea Adze Quarry Complex extends well beyond the boundaries of both of these management units. It points to the need to revise the historic district boundaries.”
“The historic district is significant under all four National Register criteria and criterion E of the Hawaii Administrative Rules, Chapter §13-275-6. …The district is significant under criterion E because of the presence of numerous burials and the hundreds of shrines in the summit region. (Emphasis added) Many of the shrines have been interpreted as evidence of a previously unknown land use practice in the form of pilgrimages to the summit of Mauna Kea and Lake Waiau to worship the gods and goddesses, while those found in the adze quarry are a clear indication that the quarry was a consecrated industry.“
The report notes that:
“Much of what is known concerning the traditional culture history of the summit region of Mauna Kea was summarized by Holly McEldowney in a 1982 report, based on a review of early journal accounts and maps, ethnographic collections, and the Boundary Commission Book for Hawaiʻi (McEldowney 1982). More recent research by Kepa Maly (1998, 1999) and Charles Langlas (Langlas et al. 1997; Langlas 1999), both of whom have conducted oral interviews in addition to archival research, have provided additional information on the traditions associated with Mauna Kea and its cultural and spiritual significance for Hawaiians today. A major compilation of native traditions, historical accounts and oral history interviews on Mauna Kea and surrounding lands can be found in a study entitled “Mauna Kea—Ka Piko Kaulana o Ka ʻAina (Mauna Kea—the Famous Summit of the Land) by Maly and Maly (2005) that was commissioned by OMKM.(Office of Mauna Kea Management)”
W.D. Alexander’s surveying party saw what they interpreted as graves on the top of Puʻu Līlīnoe, also in 1892:
“The same afternoon [July 25, 1892] the surveyors occupied the summit of Lilinoe, a high rocky crater, a mile southeast of the central hills [the ‘summit’] and a little over 13,000 feet in elevation. Here, as at other places on the plateau, ancient graves are to be found. In olden times, it was a common practice of the natives in the surrounding region to carry up the bones of their deceased relatives to the summit plateau for burial (Alexander 1892). “
McCoy et al describes numerous trails related to pre-historic pilgrimages across the summit region, and describes more recent historic activities as well.
“Instances of the cultural importance of Mauna Kea are related in several pilgrimages made to the mountain by royalty to partake in ceremonial practices in the post-Contact period. During the reign of Kamehameha I, fearing dissension amongst some of his chiefs, in the company of Kekuhaupiʻo, the king is reported to have traveled to Mauna Kea to make a ceremonial offering close to Lake Waiau (Desha 2000:94 in Maly and Maly 2005:50). In 1881 or 1882, Queen Emma ascended Mauna Kea and at Lake Waiau, she swam across the lake, riding on the back of Waiaulima (de Silva and de Silva 2006 in McCoy and Nees 2008; Maly and Maly 2005:158; Maly 1999:A-4, -5, - 387). Queen Emma’s swim across Waiau was a cleansing ceremony initiated in an effort to prove her genealogical connection to Wākea and Papa (Kanahele and Kanahele 1997:9 in Maly 1999:D-21).”
Water gathering, for healing is historic and contemporary. McCoy notes:
“Little documentation exists that Hawaiians sought to collect water or snow in ancient times, yet Lloyd Case says that “they went there because that mountain has the power to heal and it still does...I’ve heard of the old ones getting water from Waiau to use for healing...” (Maly 1999:A-353). Presently, cultural practitioners engage water and snow collection for ceremonial/medicinal purposes.”
McCoy’s earlier report can be viewed at this link: McCoy, P. and R. Nees, Archaeological Inventory Survey of the Mauna Kea Science Reserve, Kaʻohe Ahupuaʻa, Hāmākua District, Island of Hawai`i TMK: (3) 4‐4‐015:09 (por.). Pacific Consulting Services, Inc. report. Prepared for Office of Mauna Kea Management (2010) available at: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/mk/files/2017/01/B.62-FAIS-MKSR-Vol.1.pdf
McCoy’s 2013 Final report cited can be viewed in its entirety on the following link: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/mk/files/2016/10/A122.pdf
We believe that the placement of Mauna Kea environs on the Register of Historic Places will provide enhanced recognition of the cultural significance of this wahi pana. An entity seeking state or federal permits, funding, or having to conduct Section 106 consultation would need to address the impacts of their proposals on not just individual historic “properties” or “sites” but also how these properties and sites are culturally important to living communities.
BLNR hearing on the TMT failure to begin construction
By Bianca Isaki, KĀHEA | Reading time: 2.5 minutes
On November 7, 2023, the Land Board heard arguments from Petitioners - the Mauna Kea Hui, the Flores-Case ‘Ohana, Temple of Lono, Cindy Freitas- and UHH/ TIO and PUEO about whether UHH complied with construction permit conditions requiring them to start construction work within two years of permit issuance in 2017. Mahalo e ka lāhui for tuning in – there were nearly 400 viewers!
Petitioners took apart UHH’s representations that they had started construction - pointing out amongst other things that TMT “meetings” didn’t constitute construction and the ahu removed was done by DOCARE as an enforcement action, not a construction action. The Flores-Case ‘Ohana raised that UHH/ TIO never had a valid NPDES permit to initiate construction even in 2019 and this permit is now void, and the existing CDUP permit is already void because UHH never asked for an extension within a year as required by HAR 13-5-43(e). If UHH had actually begun construction as they now falsely assert, then they would have done so in violation of various protections for Mauna Kea, including the Clean Water Act, and historic preservation laws.
Why didn’t UHH ask for a permit extension? Because doing so would have required a public hearing where everyone could testify about the dozens of reasons the TMT shouldn't be built on Mauna Kea. Instead, UHH tried for a shortcut - they got ex-Land Board chair Suzanne Case to say the TMT is already being built so there was no need for an extension.
The biggest issue that emerged is the UHH/ TIO is not ready to construct the TMT. They are billions of dollars short of funding. They have years of regulatory compliance to fulfill. Fengchuan Liu, TMT project manager recently stated the telescope is nowhere near to actually being built on the mountain. The project is awaiting several “necessary steps” from the federal government before any construction can move forward. TIO’s attorney admitted they will likely have to ask for an extension from the 12 year completion deadline imposed by the 2017 construction permit. So they are planning to extend their construction permit in 2029, knowing that UH’s current lease for the summit expires in 2033.
Board members asked whether the project that would eventually be built would be the same one approved in 2017. TIO cannot say it will be the same. Part of its request for NSF funding requires compliance with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental review laws, which require exploration of project alternatives. How could TIO promise its project will be the same if it is supposed to be exploring alternatives? The hearing closed with the Board instructing the parties to file proposed orders in the next few months, after which we expect the Board to rule.
We are proud to be working together to hold UHH and TIO to representations it made in order to get its construction permit. We’ll update everyone when the Board makes its next decision. Stay tuned!
Maui Group
Building in burial ground: the desecration continues
By Clare Apana, Maui Group ExCom Member | Reading time: 2.5 minutes
Seeking protection for ancient ancestors: members of Mālama Kakanilua and Hoʻoponopono O Mākena don safety gear to accompany Grand Wailea Resort staff to the kitchen area where part of a Hawaiian burial was recently disturbed during excavation for a new grease trap. The groups had warned the resort in 2022 that such iwi disturbances would be likely at that location. Photo: Lucienne de Naie.
Three Kānaka Maoli community groups are shocked that Maui’s Grand Wailea Hotel dug up Kānaka ancestral remains and would not allow legally recognized cultural descendants to care for them. The groups have emphatically warned the hotel to stop controversial ground disturbance activities on the traditional Hawaiian burial ground now dominated by the Grand Wailea resort. The groups are in the process of filing a complaint with the State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD).
Carol Lee Kamekona, a member of the groups, went through the vetting process set up by SHPD to be formally recognized as a descendent of any burials found in the Paeahu ahupua’a, where the Grand Wailea is located.
Kamekona said: “No matter how many times we warned them, these out-of-state investors and their local management don’t get it. Now, as we warned, more iwi have been recently disturbed, and our efforts to properly care for them have been pushed aside.”
Ashford DeLima, who is also a state recognized descendant of this area expressed his concerns after a ceremony agreed to by the hotel was halted. “They would not allow me to have access to care for my ancestor’s remains.” He explained. ”How do we know that their remains were even actually in the basket container the hotel showed us? Are they hiding the fact that the remains were already taken off site—without consulting Ms. Kamekona and myself as descendants?”
The three Kānaka Maoli groups—Mālama Kakanilua, Ho‘oponopono O Mākena and Pele Defense Fund have been bringing vital information to the attention of planning officials and the public for the past four years. The groups filed an “intervention” at the Maui Planning Commission hearing on Grand Wailea expansion plans in late 2019. Their goal was to have a voice in the permit approval process and secure protection and respect for their ancestral burials as the Maui Planning Commission made land use decisions in the coastal zone. They are concerned that the many permits for ground disturbing work sought by the hotel show that there is no sincere effort to respect and protect the iwi kupuna still found on the site—even after over 340 burials were disturbed and later reburied during the four years of the hotel’s construction. The descendants have informed SHPD that they recommend the recently disturbed iwi be preserved in place.
The groups point out that even the original burial preserve area on the hotel grounds has been significantly reduced in size between the original 1988 plan and an “official” map recorded with the state in 2019. The burial preserve was established to reinter over 340 remains by an 1988 agreement with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (“OHA”). It was a condition of the hotel’s construction permit. Groups are asking OHA to investigate if the original legally binding burial preserve agreement is actually being followed, or if it is being ignored to given the hotel enough space to extend a new wing into the area that was intended to be a place of rest for the iwi kupuna that were sacrificed to build the hotel.
“Enough is enough,” DeLima declared. Its time for our kupuna to be left in peace.
Upcoming Outings
Saturday, December 9, 2023
Mālama Hāmākua Mahalo Party and Hike (C/E/S)
Hāmākualoa Moku Ha’ikū, 2 miles
Mahalo celebration for a year of great kōkua from the community for the 300-acre Hāmākualoa coastal open space preserve. Enjoy a great lunch from Flatbread Pizza and a fun hike.
Leader: Lucienne de Naie, huelogrl@icloud.com
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Sunday, December 10, 2023
Waihe’e Coastal Dunes and Wetlands Refuge (C/E)
Waihe‘e, 3 miles
This area was acquired by HILT to keep it from development. Easy 3-mile loop along coast and through forest. Covered shoes recommended on this rocky coast. There are archaeological features, unspoiled views, and we may see whales, monk seals, turtles, Hawaiian birds, and native plants. We will stop for a snack and to enjoy the views.
Leader: Annie Schultz, acm_schultz@hotmail.com or 808-344-6628
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Sunday, December 10, 2023
Māʻalaea Historical Walking Tour (C/E)
Wailuku Moku (Māʻalaea), 2.5 miles
Learn about Māʻalaea’s colorful past, spanning over 600 years, as we stroll through the modern day harbor and along Hauʻoli Street to Haycraft Park. Guided by Lucienne de Naie, author of the recently published book- “Māʻalaea: The Untold Story of Maui’s Historic Crossroads” with commentary by other longtime Māʻalaea residents. PS. Those who have copies of the Māʻalaea book are welcome to bring them to have them signed.
Leader: Lucienne de Naie, huelogrl@icloud.com
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Friday, December 15, 2023
Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge (C/E)
Māʻalaea, 1 miles
Come see a variety of waterfowl and shorebirds as well as a very impressive and beautiful Native Hawaiian planting area, and hear an overview about the refuge. Meet 10:00am inside the refuge visitor center (turn into driveway at mile post 6 on Mokulele/Maui Veterans Highway and then right to the parking lot). Bring binoculars, suitable closed toe shoes for mud and water, sun protection, water. Limit 20.
Leader: Rob Weltman, robw@worldspot.com
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Saturday, December 16, 2023
Old ʻUlupalakua-Mākena Trail Hike (C/E)
South Maui, 4 miles
Experience this famous historic road that has been closed for all use since 1985. Hike will begin on Kanaio-Kalama Road in Wailea 670, climb a slight grade, and continue downhill to the ocean on old Mākena-Ulupalakua switchback road. (leave cars at both ends)
Leader: Lucienne de Naie, huelogrl@icloud.com
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Sunday December 17, 2023
Waihe‘e Ridge Trail Hike (C/E)
Waihe‘e, 5 miles
This is a moderate to strenuous hike, as it is uphill most of the way to the top, a 1600-foot elevation gain. This trail can be very slippery if there has been recent rainfall, so a hiking stick is important. There is a beautiful forest, and spectacular ocean and valley views. Meet at 8:00am at the upper parking lot: turn mauka (inland) at Circle M Ranch (mile marker 6.9 on Kahekili Highway) and drive .9 miles to upper parking lot.
Leader: Annie Schultz, acm_schultz@hotmail.com or 808-344-6628
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Thursday, December 21, 2023
Palauʻea Winter Solstice Hike (C/E)
Honuaʻula Moku (South Maui), 2 miles
Explore the areas of the Palauʻea ahupuaʻa in the Wailea 670 /Honuaʻula Preserve that the late Kumu Michael Kumukauoha Lee identified as important to the winter (hoʻoilo) season. Some traditional Hawaiian ceremonial structures were also aligned with the celestial observations on the winter and summer solstice. We will observe (kilo) if this is the case in the Palauʻea area.
Leader: Lucienne de Naie, huelogrl@icloud.com
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Oʻahu Group
Third Sunday in November outing drew record turnout of volunteers
by Reese Liggett, Oʻahu Group Outings Leader | Reading time: 1.5 minutes
33 of the 50 volunteers at Wāwāmalu Beach on November 19th. Photo: Reese Liggett.
Fifty (that’s 50!) volunteers participated in November 19th’s Third Sunday Conservation Service Project at Wāwāmalu Beach. This was the 11th service day in Sierra Club Oʻahu Group’s ongoing series of conservation service projects to help recover Wāwāmalu Beach from decades of offroad vehicle depredation. Thousands of pili (grass) and mauʻuʻakiʻaki (sedge) and naupaka kahakai seeds were sown, and hundreds of invasive koa haole plants and sprouting stumps were removed, all by the enthusiastic volunteers from ages 7 to 70.
Wāwāmalu Beach is the adjoining northeast section of Sandy Beach Park. It features no paving or vehicular ways and is perfect habitat for Native Hawaiian plants and animals—as well as people seeking a pleasant place to sit or walk. Not considered a swimming place due to its rocky-lava nature—some of the youngest lava on Oʻahu that flowed from a vent in Kalama Valley about 50,000 years ago. Wāwāmalu, earlier Āwawamalu (shady valley), was formerly the name of the entire region bordering the Kaiwi Channel that separates Molokaʻi from Oʻahu by 25 miles. But on most locally published maps—contrasted notably on Google Earth and Apple Maps, which place it at Sandy Beach Park—today, Wāwāmalu is the about 2000 feet of shoreline between Sandy Beach and state’s soon-to-be Kaiwi State Park. Remnants of the first original 1931 paved road can be seen along the makai edge of Wāwāmalu Beach’s southwest access area. It was wiped out by the April 1, 1946 tsunami that scoured the Kaiwi Coast and severely damaged Hilo, notably wiping out Alan Davis’s ranch house near Nāpāia on along the coast toward Makapuʻu. The fallen remnant of southwest wall of Davis’s Wāwāmalu Ranch can be seen marching into the surf at the Wāwāmalu Beach’s northeast access area that some refer to as AD’s. And the 1948 constructed Kalanianaʻole Highway is the inland border of Wāwāmalu Beach.
Next Third Sunday service day is December 17—reserve your participant slot on Oʻahu Group’s Hikes and Outings page here or at wliggett@twc.com.
Upcoming Outings
Sunday, December 17
Wāwāmalu Beach Service Project
Join us for the last service day of the year! Help return Wāwāmalu Beach to its native/natural status after years of off-road abuse and inattention. Seed collection and sowing, as well as removal of invasive plants on tap. Personal pickaxes welcome. Bring closed-toe shoes/boots, gardening gloves, sunscreen and water flask (iced refill available, no plastic water available). Meet 9am at western access area just left off the eastern driveway for Sandy Beach Park. RSVP online here or with leader Reese Liggett at wliggett@twc.com. Co-leader Suzan Harada.
Kauaʻi Group
The pushback on Kauaʻi’s resort mania
by Kip Goodwin, Kauaʻi Group ExCom member | Reading time: 3.25 minutes
Building resorts and housing complexes on Kauaʻi’s east and south shores is a popular pursuit by mainland development firms.
HoKua Place
HoKua Place would have been the highest density housing development ever allowed on Kauaʻi. But in 2021 the Land Use Commission denied an application to rezone the land, 97 acres above the Kapaʻa roundabout next to Kapaʻa Middle School, from agriculture to urban. The Sierra Club and others provided abundant evidence of resource and infrastructure limitations to convince the commissioners.
Now the HoKua Place developers are back, upping the proposal to 786 units. The Illinois-based developer’s representative Greg Allen has met with Governor Green, hoping to leverage his project by associating it with the Governor’s Emergency Housing Declaration. No evidence has been put forward that HoKua Place would even marginally affect Kauaʻi’s housing emergency.
All that has changed is that traffic congestion, an overburdened waste treatment plant, and questionable availability of potable water are more problematic than before. The Sierra Club with its environmental legal team will be closely watching as this proposal progresses.
Coconut Beach Waipouli Resort
The Kauaʻi Group has bird dogged the proposed Coconut Beach Waipouli Resort for 18 years. Back in 2005, developers applied for a Special Management Area permit to allow a 343-unit condominium complex on 21 beachfront acres. The Kauaʻi Group’s vigilance documented the high wash of the waves and our subsequent 2016 shoreline appeal to the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) was intended to help ensure appropriate building setbacks, however, it also delayed the project. By 2019, the developer, now called SPD II Makaiwa Resort Development LLC, was unable to pay creditors and was foreclosed upon earlier this year.
Kauanoe O Koloa
California-based Meridian Pacific, a shopping center developer, has broken ground on a 280-unit luxury condo complex they call Kauanoe O Koloa on 25 acres on the south shore. Priced at $1.5 million and up, the units would be in a legal vacation rental zone. Cultural and archaeological concerns have not been adequately addressed.
The development has hit a snag. The submitted drainage plan did not account for the fact that the 25 acres is already the drainage outlet for uphill developments and a golf course. Challenged before the Kauaʻi Planning Commission by Friends of Māhāʻulepū (FOM), Meridian Pacific has been ordered to submit a modified drainage plan before an administrative law judge. Subsequently, their lender American Savings Bank, has said they are not extending a loan to the developer because the county building permits were not obtained in the required time frame.
Coco Palms Resort
In October 2022, the BLNR renewed permits for three state-owned parcels adjacent to the Coco Palms Resort property, to an already defunct former would-be-developer. In doing so, the BLNR exempted that developer, and any subsequent developers, from environmentally critical Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes 343 review.
A month later, in November, the public advocacy group I Ola Wailuanui filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief against the BLNR. It asserts that, first, too much time has passed in fulfilling the county permits and the developer must reapply. Second, BLNR failed in its fiduciary constitutional responsibility to protect public lands. And third, the three parcels are legally “ceded lands” intended to benefit Native Hawaiians.
More recently, FOM has filed a 40 page petition to revoke all of the Coco Palms development permits. It was filed on November 22 to the Kauaʻi Director of Planning. FOM asserts that several critical conditions of development are unmet, and a violation of these conditions constitute grounds for revocation.
A petition for declaratory order has also been filed with the Kauaʻi Planning Commission to require an Environmental Impact Statement before allowing the development to proceed.
No decisions have been rendered in these court challenges. Meanwhile, the developer has said demolition of the old hotel structures will begin by the end of the year. If we are in one of the 32,500 vehicles that drive by Coco Palms daily (a Department of Transportation estimate), we will be the first to know.