Makawao State Forest Reserve spans more than 2,000 acres on Maui. It’s also home to the state’s first network of mountain bike trails.
“It is the most popular recreation area for locals on the island, period,” said Aaron “Moose” Reichert to HPR.
He owns the Maui bike shop Krank Cycles. He also founded the Maui Mountain Bike Club about two decades ago and said he worked with the state to develop the Makawao Forest trails.
“It's probably the most heavily used trail system on the island,” said Reichert. “Hikers, bikers, horseback riders, hunters, and a big contingent of just family people coming up with their kids just at the bottom and hanging out, recreating and picnicking. So it's a huge resource.”
But since Hurricane Lala hit the islands last month, the reserve has been closed and many of those trails are destroyed. Reichert said he’s never seen damage like this before.
“There's four- to five-foot diameter eucalyptus trees down with huge, I would say, 12-foot circumference root balls, just every 100 yards easily,” he said. “I'm not an expert, but it's overly obliterated.”
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources said the Makawao Forest Reserve remains closed to the public while Division of Forestry and Wildlife staff assess conditions and address the hazards.
DLNR Communications director Andrew Laurence said roads and trails are blocked by debris in multiple locations. The Kula Forest Reserve also remains closed from storm damage.
“DOFAW crews and contractors are working to restore access, but the initial priority is clearing roads and other access needed for wildfire response and other emergency and resource-management operations,” said Laurence via email. “From there, crews will continue addressing hazardous trees, roads, trails, and other damaged infrastructure so areas can be reopened safely. Given the extent of the damage, we expect some closures to continue for an extended period and do not yet have a firm reopening date for those forest reserves.”
Meanwhile, Reichert said Krank Cycles employees have been fielding calls from community members.
“They're overwhelmed with people calling, like, ‘When's it going to open? What can we do?’ There's a community outcry of like, ‘Hey, this is the number one resource on Maui for people to recreate in the outdoors. Like, what do we need to do to make this happen?’”
In response, Reichert organized a community meeting Saturday to talk about it and form a plan to help the state when it's ready. Sierra Club Maui also rallied behind the effort, calling for members to join the effort.
“It's a community place, and it's going to take a community to help restore it,” said Reichert.
Up until the forest closure, Reichert has continued to lead volunteer trail days to help maintain the Forest Reserve recreation areas every month in coordination with state contractors.
After working to establish the trails 20 years ago and fostering a community of mountain bike enthusiasts on Maui, Reichert said that momentum kick started the founding of Krank Cycles.
Now, he said his local business still depends on the biking community that uses the trails.
“There's a chance we might not exist anymore because of this closure,” he said of the Forest Reserve damage.
DLNR says right now, the risks are too great to allow volunteers to enter the forest reserve.
“We also greatly appreciate the significant community interest in helping with the cleanup,” said Laurence. “We are receiving many offers from people who want to volunteer, and DOFAW is working on ways to safely accommodate volunteer assistance where it can be useful. At present, however, we cannot simply open closed areas to volunteers because many locations contain hazards that require specialized training, equipment, supervision and careful coordination.”
But when they get the call to help, Reichert said community members are standing ready.
“Our objective is to reopen those forest reserves as soon as we can do so safely,” continued Laurence. “We understand how important the forest and its trails are to the community, but the scale of this damage means recovery will take time.”
