Two purchases of Big Isle property for conservation purposes were approved Friday by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources.
Two purchases of Big Isle property for conservation purposes were approved Friday by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources.
The board gave the OK for more than $1.3 million to be spent on 322 acres in the Waiopae area of Puna for the protection of coastal, natural and cultural resources. Hawaii County has secured 50 percent of the grant funds from the county’s Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resource Preservation Program.
“Acquisition would allow the County of Hawaii to protect this property from potential development into a subdivision in the lower elevation land along the coastline,” according to the project’s recommendation by the Legacy Land Conservation Commission. “… In addition to preserving a natural and recreational resource, protection of the property prevents the potential financial cost to the County to provide infrastructure and the protection of the residents in this high hazard zone and the subsequent repairs when natural disasters strike.”
The BLNR also approved the $1.2 million purchase of 3,128 acres of private land within the State Agricultural Land Use District at Kahuku in Ka‘u. The property would be added to the County of Hawaii Open Space lands “for protection and management in perpetuity,” according to the project summary.