2016-11-15 Proposed Revision Summary

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5 4.8 Establish & Manage Public Access & Trails 8.4 County Action Policy 48: Establish a 'County of Hawai'i Public Access and Trail Program' with sufficient staff and resources. Staff will be required to refer to this program in all permit reviews. Elements of this program could include: 1. A comprehensive access inventory; 2. A public access rating system to help with prioritization; 3. Ensure comprehensive reviews of projects (on public or private lands) that will affect public accesses and trails. 4. Establish a program to inventory ancient trails, cart roads, and old government roads in coordination with appropriate State agencies. Ensure that publicly owned historic trails and roads are properly identified and consultation occurs to protect the public's interests. (GP 12.3 (n) Highways Act of 1892) 5. Identify agencies/groups to develop, administer, and maintain public accesses, including developing County capacity for this purpose; 6. Identify funding sources to purchase public access easement to priority areas; 7. When public access goals will involve several landowners, acquire the public access incrementally as opportunities arise to do so; 8. Public accesses that cross private land will be acquired and held until appropriate management of the accesses is in place; 9. Collaborate with State and Federal agencies on public accesses that require multi -agency involvement; 10. Develop a standardized template to promote consistency and comprehensiveness in the public access plans required 49y of landowners; 11. Partner with community organizations capable of assisting with public access management; 12. Work with State agencies (particularly with DOFAW) to coordinate, survey, develop, and manage public trails and roads leading to forest reserves. 13. In co-sponsorship with the State when possible, acquire land for public access to historic sites and objects and to the shoreline where safe transit does not already exist. 14. Reinstitute a Public Access Sign program managed by the Planning Department to assist interested community groups in maintaining appropriate signage at public access points. 15. Provide cultural and safety information at trailheads. The above actions can be implemented independently of each other and do not reflect prioritization by their listing order."