HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0349.090 2006-2008
Murashige, Laura
From: PBELCHER@hawaii.rr.com
Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 5:08 PM
To: counciltestimony@co. hawaii. hi. us
Cc: danny@kaupreservation.org
Subject: PUNALUU
2 will not be able to attend the hearing regarding the K. Hanoa Resolution. I would like
to offer my testimony regarding this area, in support of Resolution #169-07, the K. Hanoa
Resolution.
My perspective comes as the result of being raised in Hawaii in the 1950's. Additionally,
2 am presently the owner (steward) of some land in Ka'u mauka. I would like to
respectfully ask that you preserve Punaluu from development. The vistas of my youth are
such a precious resource. I reflect with such fondness on time in Kalapana and Milolii,
places which are gone or changing. If we do not save Punaluu from development, future
generations will not know the serenity of old Hawaii.
There are some important cultural and biological reasonsto save Punaluu. The adjacent
beach is the home of the "ili ili hanau o Koloa" as mentioned in the book "Majestic
Ka'u" by Marion Kelly (Bishop Museum Press). A biological survey in the 1990's by Dan
Polhemus, again of Bishop Museum, found the threatened Hawaiian damselfly in the pond at
Ninole, a native species that is almost eradicated on Oahu (Bishop Museum Occasional
Papers).
Fortunately, I have seen lots of literature that pinpoints the central role Punaluu played
in post-contact Hawaii. In the late 1800's, Punaluu was one access route to the Volcano,
the other route coming out of Hilo. Boat passengers frequently disembarked at Punaluu to
begin the hike to see Pele at Halemaumau.
I apologize for lack of specific citations in this communication. I will be happy to
provide more documentation when I return from my trip to the mainland.
I have seen all kinds of literature that spoke of beautiful places, now gone. Who knows
that Salt Lake on Oahu was once a white bottomed lake, like clean snow, with an
exceedingly high salt content? Or that the Alenaio Pond once stood where the flood of
November 2001 in Hilo filled the Bayfront Soccer Field with water? Who remembers the time
when people would drop a gourd in the sea at Puna with a message for folks at Ka'alu'alu,
where the marine trash now collects? These ideas are lost to us now. But we do have the
chance to save this one place, and I ask you to please do it.
Thank you. Sincerely,
Patrice Lei Belcher
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