Thursday, March 28, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Monday, July 19, 2021
Ha'ena 'Adaptive Tourism' Plan Starts with Lots of Expensive Parking Tickets
By News Release @ 10:47 PM :: 2731 Views :: Kauai County, Law Enforcement, Tourism

INNOVATIVE ADAPTIVE TOURISM MANAGEMENT AT HĀʻENA STATE PARK BEGINS WITH COMMUNITY

DLNR News Release, Jul 19, 2021

(Hāʻena State Park, Kaua‘i) – One morning, in late June, a Kaua‘i Police Department officer wrote 25 parking tickets before grabbing another ticket book to write another 25. He was one of two officers ticketing car after car on this day.

Rental cars had lined both sides of Kūhiō Highway adjacent to the Hāʻena Beach County Park and those ticketed get tabbed with $235 fines. Parking enforcement is one of the tools being utilized to achieve the goals of the master plan for neighboring Hāʻena State Park (HSP). More importantly, is a new adaptive management structure which incorporates community involvement as its core.

During a June meeting, the Board of Land and Natural Resources signed off on a one-year revocable permit (RP) for the non-profit Hui Maka’āinana o Makana to oversee and manage a reservation system, including collecting both parking and entry fees as well as an integrated shuttle system to reduce the number of cars that enter the park each day.

“The legislation that increased previously low parking fines along state highways is an additional tool to reduce visitor industry congestion along rural roads adjacent to high demand state parks, like Hāʻena. This is a critically needed enticement to ensure that the capacity-driven reservation system is honored. People need to understand that there have been decades of negative impacts to rural communities. Visitors should not try to by-pass the reservation rules,” said DLNR Division of State Parks Administrator Curt Cottrell.

Since the north shuttle system resumed operations last Sunday after a long COVID-19 shut-down, that is exactly what has happened in some cases. People have been turned away since they did not have identification to show their state of residency. Some of the HSP parking lot spaces are reserved for Hawai‘i residents only. Out-of-state visitors have to make reservations in advance – even if they arrive at the park with a Hawai‘i resident. Reservation information can be found at: www.gohaena.com

“To have a successful park entry system is a multi-prong effort. It is kind of like using the carrot and stick approach; increased fines and consistent enforcement for the no-parking areas paired with an exceptional shuttle service to increase access due to limited legal parking. This can be a successful formula that gives visitors an opportunity to come to the park in a pono way,” said Joel Guy of The Hanalei Initiative, which operates the shuttle system.

Cottrell added, “There is no one recipe on how to manage sensitive cultural resources, sensitive natural resources, and a fluctuating visitor industry. We committed to providing parking spots for residents. We know slots available for visitors sell out daily, but there is no magic sweet spot for assigning those numbers. So, it’s a lot of watching and monitoring and working with the hui and shuttle system to manage the proper amount of visitation and to make it economically viable and sustainable…a lot of moving parts to work with and that’s the adaption part.”

The HSP Master Plan caps daily visitation at Hāʻena to 900 people.

# # #

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

808 Silent Majority

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federalist Society

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Homeschool Association

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Smokers Alliance

Hawaii State Data Lab

Hawaii Together

HIEC.Coop

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Moms for Liberty

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

Investigative Project on Terrorism

July 4 in Hawaii

Kakaako Cares

Keep Hawaii's Heroes

Land and Power in Hawaii

Legislative Committee Analysis Tool

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

Malama Pregnancy Center of Maui

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Military Home Educators' Network Oahu

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Christian Foundation Hawaii

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

No GMO Means No Aloha

Not Dead Yet, Hawaii

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Oahu Alternative Transport

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

OurFutureHawaii.com

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

PEACE Hawaii

People vs Machine

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

P.U.E.O.

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

ReRoute the Rail

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

Robotics Organizing Committee

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Sink the Jones Act

Statehood for Guam

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

UCC Truths

US Tax Foundation Hawaii Info

VAREP Honolulu

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii

Yes2TMT