Perception, reality don’t align in Koke‘e

LIHU‘E — Most Kauaians have a picture of Koke‘e State Park as a beautiful, magical, peaceful getaway destination, with lack of cell-phone reception a blessing rather than a curse.

A very different reality of Kaua‘i’s upcountry area emerged Thursday night, provided by people who live, work and visit there.

Various speakers addressing the Koke‘e State Park Advisory Council, and members of the council themselves, described Koke‘e State Park and Waimea Canyon State Park, with over 6,100 acres combined, as:

— A place where koa theft takes place almost on an hourly basis, sometimes by people charged with protecting the resource;

— A dangerous area where it’s only a matter of time before a gun-toting, ice-using person is going to kill someone;

— An area depleted of wild game because of illegal hunting;

— A place of rampant lawlessness rarely visited by Kaua‘i Police Department officers;

— A setting where poachers know that if there are no state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement agents at their cabin, everything’s fair game;

— A place where cabin-lessees who call to report threats from poachers are subsequently threatened by DOCARE officers;

— An area where most island residents feel they don’t have a chance of getting any of the 14 remaining recreational-cabin leases, even though they are the top-priority group on the state DLNR’s list.

With that backdrop, it might be hard to imagine members of the KSPAC being hopeful that they can have much influence making what they see as necessary changes to a final draft Koke‘e and Waimea Canyon State Parks Master Plan that includes many controversial provisions for revenue-generation and holds within it a vision for the future for the parks.

But two of the more vocal members of the council, Chipper Wichman and Nancy Budd, both said they hold out hope during the council’s meeting Thursday night in the Historic Council Building council chambers.

“I remain very optimistic,” said Wichman, adding that the master plan doesn’t necessarily need a total re-write, but does require some minor tweaking. “Ninety-nine point nine percent of the plan is good.”

He said it is encouraging also that DLNR chair Laura Thielen and state Board of Land and Natural Resources Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau member Ron Agor are open to the council’s proposed revisions to the plan.

“I’m hopeful, too,” said Budd, as the council has only been together less than a year, and has already made its views known on suggested revisions to the plan that “was over, a done deal,” before the council’s formation and quick action.

In addition to the grim picture painted by park residents and users, all is not harmonious among the council’s members, Wichman and others pointed out.

“We have to pull together for the common good — Koke‘e,” he said. “We have to find a way to make everything pono for the park.”

Much discussion focused on ways to try to keep funds generated at the park stay at the park, especially since council members and the public understand that some kind of admission-fee structure is coming, likely at first to apply only to out-of-state visitors to the park.

The DLNR is looking at generating revenues, said council Chair Canen Ho‘okano. Koke‘e revenues can sustain Koke‘e, and maybe the island’s other state parks, but not all of Hawai‘i’s state parks, he said.

Council member Marsha Erickson said half of all state-park acreage in the state is on Kaua‘i. She said she also likes the idea of keeping all state-parks revenues generated on Kaua‘i on Kaua‘i.

“I am going to support an entry-fee charge at an entry booth” at Koke‘e, said Agor. Where overnight accommodations are concerned, Agor said the current system of cabins administered through the Koke‘e Lodge works for him, but he’ll defer to the council on a decision on future plans.

Many of the residents who spoke before the council indicated the need to keep affordable overnight accommodations like the cabin system operated by Koke‘e Lodge in place, as they feel they won’t be able to afford to bid at auction on one of the 14 leases for recreational cabins.

“What is the chances of us getting one cabin?” asked Ronald Valdez of Koloa, who supports small-scale, lodge-type accommodations. “Koke‘e is for everyone, everyone, to enjoy.”

Wichman said local people are likely to be priced out of the recreational-cabin lease auction, for 14 available cabins. The auction has not yet been scheduled by state officials.

“I think Koke‘e is in desperate need of help,” said Francis “Bully” Mission, who has hunted in and visited the park for over 40 years.

Mission said hunters he has spoken to are in favor of a booth at the park entrance, manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “I think we forget about the hunters.”

Both Wichman and Eric Coopersmith, a full-time resident of Koke‘e, warned of the need to make the public’s wishes for Koke‘e known immediately to state officials, as work is being done to upgrade the park with or without public input.

By the time the council process is done, changes at Koke‘e will be done already, Coopersmith said.

Members of the council voted unanimously to urge the BLNR, meeting Friday in Honolulu, to defer action on  any matter affecting Koke‘e until BLNR members review KSPAC recommendations and Thielen meets with KSPAC to discuss impacts of revenue-generating proposals and how and where the money generated will be used.

For more information, visit the council’s official Web site at www.kokeeadvisory.org, or view the master plan at www.hawaiistateparks.org/documents/hsp_kokee_prefinal_master_plan1.pdf.

• Paul C. Curtis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com.