Letters for Wednesday, December 20, 2006

• Open letter to DLNR

• Much remains to be done

• Let’s worry about needy

Open letter to DLNR

Dear Mr. Young … Thank you for patiently listening for over three hours while Kauaian after Kauaian stepped up to the microphone and addressed you and the governor’s Kaua‘i Council of Advisors on Thursday evening. The message was very clear and incredibly unanimous: the DLNR’s Master Plan for Koke‘e and Waimea Canyon state parks is not what the people of Kaua‘i want. As a matter of fact, for the past five years, there have been numerous public meetings about this Master Plan, and every time the testimony has been extremely consistent: We don’t want your “amenities” and “improvements.”

Just repair and maintain the park roads, bathrooms and hiking trails, and fix up the decrepit, state-owned rental cabins and Koke‘e Lodge. Besides those too-long-deferred repair and maintenance items, please leave our precious mountain alone. Recently, the 40- to 60-room hotel was removed from the plan, as was the paving of “Secret Bluff,” commercial helicopters using the landing zone in the park and an actual entry gate. That is certainly progress. But it’s not nearly enough. You changed some of the Master Plan’s language. For instance, replacing “revenue generation” as its stated fundamental goal with “enhancements” and “upgrades,” and replaced “entry gate” with “entry station.” But has your intention really changed? The letter you circulated at Thursday’s meeting ends with, “We want to make sure the correct thing happens (in Koke‘e). We welcome and appreciate the participation of the Kaua‘i residents in the planning process.” If you are sincere in these statements, sweeping changes need to be made to the Master Plan as it stands right now. Dozens of people spoke with one voice: Koke‘e should not be “improved” to accommodate busload after busload of tourists; the lookouts should not be commercialized; and any sort of entry station, with or without an actual gate, is un-needed and unwanted.

As caretaker for Camp Sloggett in Koke‘e, I get a unique glimpse of how the people of Kaua‘i view and use Koke‘e. It is a place for retreat; for both individual meditation and personal time, and for families and churches and schools to get together in a special, quiet place for their own growth, exploration, sharing, teaching and praying. Locals come to Koke‘e to gather maile and mokihana, ferns and lehua blossoms for their leis and ceremonies. The annual plum-picking, trout-fishing and deer-hunting seasons are legendary. These are traditions passed down for many generations already, and hopefully for many generations to come.

As this small island continues to get built up, the rural areas are disappearing, as are the mauka forests. This continued growth demands that Koke‘e be left alone — left as a place of refuge and regeneration, a place for the keiki of Kaua‘i to see where food and water actually comes from. It is a rare and beautiful opportunity for them to learn from the kupuna so much of their heritage, culture and traditions. To explore nature, see native birds and plants, enjoy chilly mountain nights and star-filled skies. To connect with the ‘aina, the source. And to leave their Gameboys and DVDs behind for just a little while.

This is a rapidly dwindling type of place. There is nothing which can replace Koke‘e in the hearts and minds and actions of the people of Kaua‘i. It is truly unique, and must not be destroyed by mismanagement and misdevelopment, however well intended.

Appreciate Koke‘e for the wonderful, rustic, local, natural treasure that it is. Please listen to the voice of the people of Kaua‘i. Make your money elsewhere.

Malama ‘Aina preserve Koke‘e.

Waimea

Much remains to be done

Another year is almost in the books and it has been Kaua‘i’s worst-ever year for water safety, and that’s not including the Ka Loko dam tragedy/disaster. Twelve people have drowned on our beaches and another man was killed at Kipu Falls this year. I cannot overstate the suffering that each tragedy represents.

This has been a very bitter pill, not only for the victims and their families, but also for our water safety professionals and for the concerned citizens who have been trying to impact this Kaua‘i problem. Much has been accomplished in recent years: Ever more lifeguards with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities and administration; establishment and publicizing of a remarkable Web site (kauaiexplorer.com) that carefully presents daily information on water conditions as well as general beach-safety advice and information; wide distribution of safety brochures; sign placements; a water safety video (on again, off again, I’m afraid) playing at the baggage claim carousels; a water safety video on incoming Hawaiian Airlines flights (and we’re lobbying the other incoming airlines); and a full-page water-safety message in the “Drive-Guide” that is issued to all car-renters.

Obviously much remains to be done. Certainly in simply the matter of numbers of lifeguards (and of course in the matter of our being an island with alluring sandy beaches in the middle of the open Pacific Ocean) we are a set-up for more disasters. We have more sand beach (44 percent of our coastline) than Oahu (22 percent) or Maui (20 percent), but we have 33 lifeguards as compared to their 180-plus and 65-plus, respectively. Obviously this has to do with population size and tax-base for the budget pool, but the fact remains that there is much more to be done — by the state, the county and the visitor industry in all its manifestations (i.e. hotels, time-shares/condos, activities desks, equipment rental businesses, dive shops, vacation rentals, B&Bs, boat tours, cruise ship lines, etc.).

In order to further brainstorm our problem, the Kaua‘i Lifeguard Association has organized our first-ever Kaua‘i Water Safety Conference, to be held at the Kalapaki Marriott on Jan. 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thanks to platinum sponsorships by the county and by Wilcox Health, the registration fee will be only $25 and will include a continental breakfast and a cuisine lunch. Jay Furfaro (himself a former O‘ahu lifeguard) will give the keynote address, and other speakers will include Mayor Baptiste, Kalani Vierra (our Ocean Safety supervisor), Ralph Goto (O‘ahu’s Ocean Safety supervisor), Sue Kanoho (head of the Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau), myself and others. Our goal is to come together (“one island, many people, all Kauaians”) and learn about what we each are doing and what we each can do to help minimize our water tragedies. Anything we can accomplish will be blessed, I promise you. You can get registration materials by calling Kaua‘i Ocean Safety Bureau (241-6506). Please come — to share and to learn and to help.

Wilcox Hospital E.R.

Let’s worry about needy

I see many needy families on Kaua‘i who would benefit from a Wal-Mart grocery store. Wal-Mart is willing to take EBT cards. Costco does not accept the food card. Let’s focus on the folks who need the help instead of worrying about a big box dilemma. Especially since Wal-Mart land is not ag land, and will not even be seen from the highway.

Koloa