HVNP selects management plan

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park’s new management plan will provide for minimal development of its Kahuku property and the reopening of closed sections of Crater Rim Drive if Kilauea’s ongoing eruption ceases.

The park signed the plan, a wilderness study and environmental impact statement, May 24 after seven years of planning. The documents will be a guide for stewardship of the century-old park and the visitor experience going forward.

Park Superintendent Cindy Orlando said in a press release that implementing the plan will “likely take many years, as funds and resources become available.”

The park selected Alternative No. 2. Other alternatives would have maintained status quo or more extensive infrastructure development in the 116,000-acre Kahuku property, which the park acquired in 2003. The property comprises the southern flank of Mauna Loa.

The plan allows for the gradual addition of trails and campsites in the area, primarily in lower Kahuku. No new roads would be built in the lower section, while a road in the upper section would be upgraded for two-wheel-drive access. Kahuku campgrounds would be small-scale with minimal services.

The plan allows for a small pilot program for equestrian access.

The plan also says the Chain of Craters emergency route, cut in 2015 as the June 27 lava flow neared Pahoa, could be used for hiking and equestrian access. That 8-mile section of the road, about 5.5 miles of which is inside the park, was covered by earlier lava flows from Puu Oo starting in the 1980s. It remains closed to vehicles after being recut as an evacuation route.

Additionally, the plan identifies potential areas for expansion that would add Pohue Bay, the “Great Crack” and other areas to the park.

View the plan: https://tinyurl.com/hvnpplan.

Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.