Waipi'o Lookout Draft Environmental Assessment

Home

RC-0442 INTRODUCTION At the request of Ron Terry,Ph.D. of Geometrician Associates,LLC,on behalf of his client the County of Hawai`i, Rechtman Consulting, LLC conducted an archaeological and cultural assessment survey of a 78,599 square foot parcel (TMK: 3-4-8-04:006)in Lalakea Ahupua`a,Hamakua District,Island of Hawaii. (Figures I and 2). The property is currently owned by the Rice family and the county is considering purchasing the parcel and establishing a "Ranger Station" to enhance the interpretation and protection of Waipi`o Valley. This survey was undertaken in accordance with Hawaii Administrative Rules 13§13--284, and was performed in compliance with the Rules Governing Minimal Standards for Archaeological Inventory Surveys and Reports as contained in Hawaii Administrative Rules 13§13-276. According to 13§13-284-5 when no archaeological resources are discovered during an archaeological survey the production of an Archaeological Assessment report is appropriate. Compliance with the above standards is sufficient for meeting the historic preservation review process requirements of both the Department of Land and Natural Resources—State Historic Preservation Division (DLNR—SHPD) and the County of Hawai`i Planning Department. This report contains background information outlining the project area's physical and cultural contexts, a presentation of previous archaeological work in the area and current survey expectations based on that previous work,along with an explanation of the project methods and results. BACKGROUND To generate expectations regarding the nature of the historic properties that might exist on the study parcel, and to provide an appropriate background to assess any resources that are encountered,the specific as well as general physical and cultural contexts are presented along with prior studies relevant to the project area. Project Area Description The current study area consists of a single Tax Map parcel (see Figure 2) situated on the northeastern plateau ridge bordering Waipi`o Valley proper at an elevation of roughly 900 feet above sea level. It is bounded to the north by the Waipi`o Valley Road and on all other sides by undeveloped Kamehameha Schools land. The current terrain and landscape are that of a typical residential property with a house and garage structure, a driveway, stone wall landscaping features, and ornament plants and a lawn area(Figure 3-6). The elder Mr. Rice, now deceased, was a collector of art and artifacts from throughout the Pacific, and it is possible that some of the landscape items could be considered cultural artifacts, albeit with unknown provenience and without context.There is a large stand of bamboo in the south-central portion of the parcel. The project area is located at an interface region of geology with Pololu and Hawi Series volcanic substrates. The older Pololu Volcanic represent 700 to 250 thousand year old flow events, while the younger Hawi Volcanics are 230 to 120 year old lava flows (Wolfe and Morris 1996). The soil in the project area is classified as Kukaiau silty clay loam(KwD),with a surface layer of very dark grayish-brown silty clay loam about 10 inches thick. The subsoil is dark-brown silty clay loam about 40 inches thick. It is underlain by basalt. The surface layer is extremely acidic, and the subsoil is medium to slightly acidic (USDA-NRCS web site). 1