HILO — Earlier this week, four Hawaii County men received cease and desist orders from Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) officers for lava rock removal. The men all admitted their roles in the unlawful removal of tons of lava rock from the Mauna Loa Forest Reserve.
DOCARE officers believe the men are the primary individuals who are cracking large chunks of pahoehoe lava, stacking it in place, and then taking it out of the forest reserve by the truckload to sell to hotels and homes for rock boundary and decorative walls and fireplaces. At one time at least one of the men had a permit from the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) to conduct commercial rock collection, but officers say it expired about eight years ago and was not reissued.
DOCARE Officer Edwin Shishido has been leading a team of officers investigating what he calls theft of state natural resources.
“It appears they go in, crack the lava – all the flat rocks, the really nice ones, and when they don’t see any law enforcement officers around, they’ll load it up into pickup trucks and onto flatbed trailers and just leave,” he said in a press release about the cease and desist orders.
On a recent patrol of the Mauna Loa Forest Reserve, officers found evidence of numerous stacks of rocks: some five-feet high and 20-30 feet long ready to be moved.
“These guys were getting anywhere from $800 to $1000 for a load of rock, often selling it to commercial properties and residential homeowners in Waikoloa and other places on the Big Island, Shishido said.
The Mauna Loa Forest Reserve features a sweeping vista of lava on the eastern slopes of Mauna Loa. Signs at the entrance road and on the mountain clearly prohibit any commercial activity without a permit, including “Damaging or removal of natural features, historic, or prehistoric remains.”
State conservation officers acknowledge that there is a seemingly endless supply of lava on the mountain, but say lava rock removal by creating new roads off the main road and physically cracking the rock is damaging the natural resources and scarring the landscape. They say they’ve consulted with Hawaiian cultural practitioners who disagree with the practice of making money off natural resources that they say should be left alone and in place.
Proposed revisions to rules for State Forest Reserves were discussed at a half dozen public meetings last month, and the period for public comment closed on Friday in advance of the new rules package being presented to the Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources at an upcoming meeting.
The revised rules, like the current ones, make it illegal to remove natural resources from a forest reserve for commercial purposes without having a written permit. They also limit the total dollar value of materials that can be taken with a permit, and the amount of time in which removal can occur.
Probably been going on for close to 8 years..
“They say they’ve consulted with Hawaiian cultural practitioners who
disagree with the practice of making money off natural resources that
they say should be left alone and in place.”
So, no more making of money by selling oil, gas, sand, salt, or whatever.
What did these practitioners and their predecessors do at the quarry on Mauna Kea?
Any of those ‘damages’ will be covered by new lava in no time.
The orange haired baboon and his lucky Pruitt have no issues with these guys taking this rock.
Have at it!
Lava rock is the most abundant building material on the Big Island. It should be free to take for everyone, it should not be restricted by DLNR or other government agencies and police enforcement.
HOWEVER, the county and/or DLNR and private landowners should designate (mostly remote!)
areas where large amounts of lava rock, a’a as well as pahoehoe, are available and accessible by
pickup truck … the way it used to be 20-30 years ago along Kaahumanu Highway. A beautiful lava
rockwall has always been the pride of an Hawaiian home and of many public buildings and parks.
There were great rock wall builders like Billy Freitas who could turn a pile of a’a rocks into a master-
piece. If the rock builder (and owner) has to pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars just for
the raw material, even for good looking a’a rocks, then traditional Hawaiian Real Lava Rock Walls
become unaffordable and a thing of the past and will be replaced instead by cheap crushed rock
contraptions as can be seen all over Kona during the past 10-15 years.
My suggestion to the “Rock Authorities”: Please get together and work out a reasonable, common
sense solution to the problem of making lava rock, a’a and pahoehoe, again freely available for
home owners as well as small and large contractors by designating (remote) areas where the
removal of lava rocks will not result in a visual disturbance of the environment or have other
detrimental effects. It may involve the construction of rough access roads in some locations.
Moderate permit fees could pay for it, if necessary.
When are “they” going to restrict the taking of ocean water ?
Lava rock is really a “renewable resource” as we are just experiencing again, so why restrict it ???