The U.S. Senate has passed a bill that would require consideration of Lahaina as a National Heritage Area designation.
The legislation directs the National Park Service, in partnership with Maui County and other local partners, to study the suitability and feasibility of this designation.
“The August 2023 wildfires brought to the forefront how special Lahaina is to Maui, to Hawaiʻi, to our country and, indeed, the world," U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono said.
"A National Heritage Area designation could bring important federal resources to promote and manage the historic, national and cultural resources that are unique to Lahaina, to the people of Lahaina. To provide this designation is a start in reinforcing how important Lahaina is. Historically, it was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.”
Since 1984, more than 60 National Heritage Areas have been established across the country, but none in Hawaiʻi.
In 2022, a similar bill was passed to consider Oʻahu’s Kaʻena Point as a National Heritage Area. That proposal is currently being studied.
The Lahaina bill was introduced by Hirono and Reps. Jill Tokuda and Ed Case. It passed the House earlier this month and now heads to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.
