KALALAU BEACH — A crackdown on illegal campers over the years is paying big dividends at Napali Coast State Wilderness Park.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement sent a group of four officers earlier this week to conduct a sweep of Kalalau Beach and Kalalau Valley. What those officers found on Tuesday, Nov. 15, was an area largely free of rubbish and illegal campers.
Kaua‘i Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement Branch Chief Brad “Kipi” Akana said of the fewer than 20 campers contacted, all but two people did not have the proper paperwork from the Division of State Parks to be on the premises.
“Officers cited the two individuals without permits for being in a closed area,” said Akana in a statement issued by the division on Thursday, Nov. 17. “They were given court dates to answer the charges.”
As little as seven or eight years ago, periodic sweeps of the area would often end with officers citing dozens of scofflaws for a variety of misdeeds.
Those illegal campers brought in “every imaginable item by boat or Jet Ski and established extensive, long-term camps on the beach and valley,” the division said.
Illegal campers also found a way to profit from squatting.
“Some were charging hikers and backpackers for the luxury of not having to make the 11-mile hike back to their cars, by hauling them out by boat or Jet Ski,” the division said.
Routine operations by maintenance crews have also netted positive results, such as keeping trash under control when it used to pile up and spread out across the grounds. In October, the division said, a total of 820 pounds of rubbish was hauled away in three helicopter sling loads.
“We continue educating people to pack out what they pack in, as the trash cleanup operations are time and labor intensive, and because they require helicopters (that) are tremendously expensive,” said Curt Cottrell, sdministrator of the Division of State Parks, in a statement.
Maintenance crews also regularly clean the composting toilet bathrooms, although the facilities were overrun during the busy season.
“Unfortunately, the bathrooms were not designed to handle the crush of people we see in the park during the peak visitation months,” Cottrell said.
All told, division officers heard a lot of positive feedback from campers earlier this week.
“The collaborative efforts we’ve engaged in with (the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement) and the community, as well as the post-2018 entrance restrictions to Ha‘ena State Park — the gateway to the Napali Coast — have made all the difference in the world,” Cottrell said.
“It truly is on its way toward becoming a wilderness park devoid of craziness and trash. We just need all visitors to respect this incredible place.”
•••
Wyatt Haupt Jr., editor, can be reached at 808-245-0457 or whaupt@thegardenisland.com.
