KAILUA-KONA — Adventurers hoping to hike the popular White Road Trail are out of luck.
The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has said they will not grant permission to hikers who want to cross their land to access the popular trail, and, without their permission, the Department of Land and Natural Resources has said they won’t issue any permits to access the Kohala Restricted Watershed, where the trail runs.
“As far as we’ve been informed, Hawaiian (Home Lands) will not be issuing public access across their property,” said Steve Bergfeld, branch manager for the Division of Forestry and Wildlife, which is under DLNR. “So the hiking permits by DOFAW, whether we issue them or not is kind of moot, because we won’t issue a permit without landowner permission.”
A spokesperson from DHHL confirmed that was their position. Bergfeld said as far as he’s aware, there are no other ways to access the trail other than through the DHHL property.
The agencies’ position means hikers have no legal means of getting to the North Hawaii trail and anybody who hikes it — roughly a 1.5-mile trek to the lookout one-way — risks a trespassing citation and an appearance before a judge.
48 cited
Last month, officers from DLNR’s Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement wrote citations for 48 adults for trespassing into the watershed and Kohala Forest Reserve.
Court dates for those cited are scheduled for throughout this month and through the middle of next month. They’ll face a judge at South Kohala District Court in Waimea.
DLNR spokeswoman Deborah Ward said at the time that courts have normally been issuing fines of $150.
Before last month’s operation, Ward said, officers had issued 12 citations this year, but had “verbally warned hundreds of people.”
“There is a problem with hikers trespassing onto Department of Hawaiian Home Lands leased property to enter into the Kohala Forest Reserve and the restricted Kohala watershed,” Ward said of the crackdown on trespassers in the area.
Safety an issue
Even if crossing over DHHL land weren’t an issue, the trail is closed past the Waipio Lookout, beyond which is the popular “water slide” that is the goal of many who hike the trail. That part of the trail has been closed since a 2006 earthquake that created cracks in the trail. Ward has previously said that portion of the trail was closed as a matter of public safety, saying it becomes slippery when wet and the drop is hundreds of feet.
“So it’s a trespassing matter and also a safety concern,” she said.
“There’s also the factor of White Road residents complaining about the volume of the people parking, et cetera.”
Restricted watersheds are areas where water supplies are “vulnerable to contamination by public access,” she said, as watersheds are sources of domestic water supplies.
Asked about what the concerns officials have about the impacts of public access on the watershed, Ward said the question of impact is irrelevant to “the principle issues of trespass and safety.”
“The problem is that people are trespassing where they do not have permission to enter and they are going into a closed area, which is closed for public safety,” Ward said. “So issues about impact to the watersheds really are not relevant.”
10 permits in 12 years
Since 2005, DOFAW has only issued 10 permits, Ward said, though it’s unknown how many of those were issued after the ‘06 earthquake that closed off part of the trail.
Bergfeld said these days, he doesn’t get a lot of inquiries about getting to the trail, but noted that it’s a moot point given that the first step, permission from Hawaiian Home Lands to cross their property, isn’t being made available.
“We’re not going to grant a permit to someone that doesn’t have the landowner’s permission to cross their property,” Bergfeld said.
Ward said the department is intending to have more enforcement, but wouldn’t comment on specifics.
Many hikers, though, seem content to not bother with the permitting process at all, instead simply hopping the gate that separates the end of White Road in Waimea and the leased Hawaiian Home Lands Property.
When West Hawaii Today visited the area last month, several hikers said after the wave of citations were issued that they didn’t see the harm in crossing the land as long as they were mindful of not leaving traces of their hike.
But Ward said it’s a question of respect for the landowner, not an attempt to rain on anyone’s parade.
“These are not to deprive people of the opportunity to enjoy hiking and beautiful areas,” Ward said. “There are many, many places on the Big Island where people can enjoy hikes and scenic hikes, and this is about respecting the landowner rights as well as safety concerns.”