Report Title:

Walking Trails; Piilani Trail; Feasibility Study

 

Description:

Request the Na Ala Hele program under the department of land and natural resources to conduct a study on the feasibility of designating the Piilani trail from Makena to Kapalua as an important Hawaiian coastal cultural heritage corridor and opening the trail to the public.  (SD1)

 


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1028

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

S.D. 1

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT


 

 

RELATING TO WALKING TRAILS.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature recognizes the importance of walking trails as part of Hawaii's natural resources and cultural heritage.  The Alaloa trail on the island of Maui, also known as the King's Highway, is an ancient trail that encircled the island of Maui, connecting villages and heiaus scattered on Maui's coastal areas.  King Piilani, a fourteenth-century chief of East Maui and the Hana districts, began the construction of the Alaloa trail, which was completed by his son.  Stretching more than one hundred thirty-eight miles around Maui, it became the only ancient highway to encircle the coastline of any of the Hawaiian islands.  A Hawaiian elder, Eddie Pu, has walked the entire Piilani trail, as it is known today, for the past thirty years as a spiritual quest that renews and reconnects him to the life and energy of the land and his ancestors.

     The purpose of this Act is to request the Na Ala Hele program under the department of land and natural resources to conduct a study on the feasibility of designating the Piilani trail from Makena to Kapalua as an important Hawaiian coastal cultural heritage corridor and opening the trail for public use.

     SECTION 2.  (a)  The na ala hele program under the department of land and natural resources shall conduct a feasibility and cost study of designating the Piilani trail from Makena to Kapalua as an important Hawaiian coastal cultural heritage corridor, and the repair and preservation of the trail for public use.

     (b)  The study shall include the following:

     (1)  An inventory, mapping, and safety assessment of the trail;

     (2)  Feasibility of opening the trail for public use, including obtaining input from private landowners adjacent to and nearby the trail; and

     (3)  A cost assessment for the State to repair, to acquire any land for, and to maintain the trail for public use and designate it as a cultural heritage corridor.

     (c)  The na ala hele program shall use its own funds to conduct the feasibility and cost study of the Piilani trail.

     (d)  The na ala hele program shall submit a written report to the legislature of its findings and recommendations, including a proposed budget, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2008 regular session.

     SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2007.