HVNP management plan advances

As Hawaii Volcanoes National Park celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, the National Park Service is busy charting a course for the future of Hawaii Island’s crown jewel.

The NPS on Thursday released the final version of the park’s general management plan, wilderness study and environmental impact statement, which identifies three potential courses of action to be taken to protect and manage the national treasure over the next two decades.

The public now has 30 days to review and comment on the document. After that, the park system will select its preferred option from the plan and begin the process of putting it into effect.

The plan, which has been in development since 2008, includes a road map for developing the park’s newly acquired 116,000-acre Kahuku property, encompassing the southwest rift zone of Mauna Loa from about 2,000 feet to 12,500 feet in elevation. Currently, the public can only access the lower portion of the unit during weekends and special events.

The park’s preferred alternative, identified as No. 2, seeks a restrained approach to developing the Kahuku unit, according to HVNP Environmental Protection Specialist Danielle Foster.

Meanwhile, Alternative No. 1 would leave the property pretty much as it remains now, while Alternative No. 3 would be more aggressive in developing Kahuku.

“What we really want to do is open it up more, seven days a week. We want to be able to have visitor amenities, but low key, more rustic,” she said. “A few smaller sized campgrounds, bathrooms … and commercial services to a limited degree.”

The upper portion of the Kahuku property, which is relatively untouched, would largely be left alone to preserve its pristine nature.

“There wouldn’t be commercial tours driving through it and things like that,” Foster said. “It’s much more low key.”

The plan also includes increases in funding necessitated by the operation of Kahuku, such as an additional $1.5 million for natural resource projects like fencing, boosting the staffing budget by $3 million, and an additional $31 million for facilities like picnic areas, campgrounds and bathrooms.

Only 32 commenters weighed in on the early drafts of the plan, Foster added.

“I think that means people are in general happy with things,” she said. “We’ve had several opportunities for comment … and each meeting had less people providing comment. … To me, it means we did a good job in our outreach in incorporating people’s opinions.”

Barring any commenters bringing up important points in the next 30 days that may have been overlooked during the draft process, the park service is likely to select Alternative No. 2, Foster said.

Info: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/havogmp.

Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.