Residents have opined for more than 50 years to designate some lands along the Maunalua-Makapuʻu scenic byway into the Kaiwi Coast State Park.
On Thursday, Gov. Josh Green stood from the Makapuʻu Lighthouse Lookout to sign Senate Bill 1254, which establishes a pathway to designate lands from Makapuʻu to Wawamalu as part of a state park.
Sen. Chris Lee of Oʻahu said the land is currently designated as a scenic shoreline, but turning it into a state park will allow for new resources and protections.
"Any additional lands added to the state park will also have that protection of the law in perpetuity to be managed in a wild and natural state," Lee said.
The process is technical in that SB 1254, now Act 235, gives the state Department of Land and Natural Resources the order to petition its board, which holds the designation rights.
The odds are more than good that’ll be approved, said Gov. Josh Green.
"We value the board, and we've embraced the board of natural resources, we've embraced protection of the environment. So we're careful about that. Although, when something appears in statute in this way, it's a foregone conclusion that this will be a protected preserve," Green said.
Elizabeth Reilly, founder and president of Livable Hawaiʻi Kai Hui, said this was a grassroots organizing effort. Community partnership, she said, will continue.
"You'll be hearing more about the fun projects that we're going to be doing to help the state in the county here for the Kaiwi Coast, you're also going to be hearing about Kaiwi explorations, which takes the public out up onto the mountain lands that all of you helped protect," Reilly said.
Beyond the Kaiwi Coast, Green signed two other bills on site relating to public lands and conservation enforcement.
SB 1391, now Act 236, penalizes landowners for encroachment on public lands, such as when private property falls or slides onto the beach. HB 1200, now Act 237, authorizes state conservation officers to use drones to monitor illegal activity on public lands.
