LIHU’E — The threat of legal action has hung over Grove Farm Company leaders for 25 years because of the potential for accidents at Kipu Falls, among the most coveted “out-of-the-way adventure sites on Kaua’i” for residents and visitors, company
LIHU’E — The threat of legal action has hung over Grove Farm Company leaders for 25 years because of the potential for accidents at Kipu Falls, among the most coveted “out-of-the-way adventure sites on Kaua’i” for residents and visitors, company officials lamented.
Now, David Denson, a community activist, and others, want to work with representatives of Grove Farm, the land owner, to maintain a trail leading to the falls, and the falls themselves.
Allan Smith, vice president and chief operating officer for Grove Farm Company, met with Denson and others at the Queen Lili’uokalani Children’s Center in Lihu’e last week.
The intent was to find a solution that would address Grove Farm officials’ concerns about liability, and allow the public’s continued access to the falls.
With more passenger shipfolks coming to Kaua’i and more growth, more people are finding their way to the falls, Denson said.
Some visitor publications continue to point out the exclusivity of the attraction, thereby encouraging more people to go there as well, he added.
But Denson stressed the public has a “prescriptive easement” to the falls, because people have been hiking to the falls and using the swimming hole at the bottom of the falls for the past 25 years.
Grove Farm officials own the land on which the falls and trail are found, and company leaders said they could close access to it if they desired.
But they haven’t, preferring to let people enjoy the remoteness and beauty of the site.
“The easy thing to do is to close the place, but people will not be able to enjoy it,” Smith said.
The best solution, he said, “would be a structure of shared liability and willingness of everyone here (those attending the meeting) to make things work.
“If we can participate and share the liability (continued use of the site might occur),” Smith said.
Denson agreed with Smith, noting that continued public access to the site may mean having “to take some of the liability off Grove Farm.”
Smith said Grove Farm leaders hope the people who go to the site “treat it with respect.”
Smith said many issues have to be worked out, including the use of a road that leads to the trail head, and sanitation, before the question of continued public access can be answered.
Smith said more meetings have to be held before any solution can be forged.
At the same time, he said he will remain flexible, adding, “Let’s have good dialogue.”
The falls and the trails are already maintained by volunteers, but a formal and larger volunteer group is needed to keep the area drug-free and clean, Denson said.
“We are trying to facilitate a group of people who will watchdog the area, to stop people from breaking into cars and using drugs, and fight, of course,” he said. “When you get a lot of young people down there, and visitors, you don’t want an assault or anything like that. But, so far, there have been minimal problems.”
Denson said he would like to see two volunteers posted at the site as part of a maintenance project.
“I see one person by the waterfall who should be trained with CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and first aid, and have a cell phone,” Denson said.
The other person would be “keeping an account of how many people are coming, of where they are coming from, and of whether they are elderly or infirm,” Denson said.
He said funds from leaders with Kaua’i County, the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and grants from officials with the federal government, could be solicited and used to “help buy the tools” that could be used by volunteers for a maintenance program for the site.
And leaders with Norwegian Cruise Line, whose passengers visit the site, could chip in funds as well.
Robert Pa, a Kanaka Maoli, an indigenous member of Hawai’i, said he has helped clean up the place in the past, and indicated he has helped rescue folks who got in trouble there.
“I apply CPR, and have helped people with glass (individuals who may have stepped on broken glass at the site),” he said.
The idea of having a large group of volunteers helping to maintain the place appealed to him, he said.
Pa also offered the use of his truck and time to haul gravel to the site, to help build a “safe parking lot.”
Preserving public access to the falls is a priority, Pa said.
“It would be sad to see it blocked off, like at Waipahe’e Falls (in the mountains areas above Kealia, where a drowning occurred in the past, forcing a private landowner to close public access to the falls),” Pa said.
Among those attending the meeting were Kaua’i County Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura; LaFrance Kapaka-Arboleda, who heads the Kaua’i office of the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs; David Hinazumi, a Grove Farm vice president; Rick Haviland, owner of Outfitters Kauai, who has permission from Grove Farm Company to bring tour groups to the falls; and Les Milnes, a Kaua’i rancher.
