HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0890.001 2010-2012 testimony in support of Comm. 890 (Res. 314-12) re. Kahuku Coastal Property
for Hawai'i County Council Committee on Finance, 11:15 AM Thursday, November 8, 2012,Hilo
by Cory Harden, PO Box 10265, Hilo, Occupied Hawai'i 96721 808-968-8965 mh@interpac.net
The `largest coastal preserve in Hawai'i''[Ka'u Calendar, 5-8-12]--eighty miles of undeveloped coast that
would enchant both residents and visitors. That's what Kahuku Coastal Preserve could help create.
along with Punalu'u, Kawa, and Honu'apo. A. coastal preserve this size can't be created in other places—
land costs too much.
But this dream is threatened. Resorts have been proposed on this land, and on nearby land. And just
mauka, Kona Gardens has many vacant lots where people could build.
The land, also known as Sands of South Kona, is over 3,000 acres makai of Ocean View. It has over one
mile of coastline and an "accessible black sand beach". (DLNR (Department of Land and Natural
Resources) letter re. Legacy Lands, 5-11-12] Relatively little has changed there `since pre-western
contact in the late 1700s". [Sierra Club, quoted in Ka'u Calendar, 8-15-12]
The area provides nesting sites for Hawaiian Hawksbill turtles and habitat for green sea turtles.
Endangered monk seals have been seen.
A volcanic crack harbors an anchialine pool complex, with some pools extending inland over one quarter
of a mile. The pools host"native marine invertebrates, fish, and unique native crustaceans, including
three candidate species of endemic anchialine pool shrimp."[U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. quoted in
Ka'u Calendar. 8-15-12]
The area has"kipukas of native lowland dry forest ecosystems". [Hawai'i County Res. 49-11]and "...a
highly complex cave system with endemic organisms and unique archaeological features." [Sierra Club,
quoted in Ka'u Calendar. 8-15-12]
Since it is next to "the largest natural reserve area in the entire state" [Manuka NAR (Natural Area
Reserve)], protection here would also "provide landscape-level protection of the area's unique ecosystem
and habitats." [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. quoted in Ka'u Calendar. 8-15-122]
The land hosts one of the largest petroglyph fields in the islands. [Sierra Club, quoted in Ka'u Calendar.
8-15-12]
The land "contains a major public right of way to Ka'u coastal lands and ocean resources, including
portions of the "Road to the Sea" route"Newell County Res. 49-11]But there are no public access
rights. Acquisition would solve this problem, providing "a permanent legal public access to the [Kahuku
Coastal Property] as well as the southern portion of Manuka NAR."[DLNR (Department of Land and
Natural Resources) letter re. Legacy Lands, 5-11-12]
Please protect this land and move us towards the dream of the largest coastal preserve in the islands.
r .
Comm. No. 1 o, I
Ref. To: P/F G-
Ref. Date NOV 0 S 2012