HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

131

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

Requesting the department of land and natural resources to make the haleakala trail available to the people of hawaii.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, the Haleakala trail on the island of Maui is an eight and one-half mile state-owned trail that stretches from Saint Joseph's Church under Piiholo Road and the end of Olinda Road, through Haleakala Ranch, and ends at the crater rim of Haleakala National Park; and

 

     WHEREAS, the ancient Hawaiian Haleakala trail was improved to a bridle trail in 1905 by the Hawaiian territorial government, thus the trail enabled the public to access Haleakala without a guide; and

 

     WHEREAS, because the family-owned Haleakala Ranch claims ownership of the portion of the Haleakala trail that goes through its property, the trail is not currently open to the public; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Haleakala trail is the only state-owned trail that is not open to the public; and

 

     WHEREAS, to make the trail available for the public to use, the claim of title of Haleakala Ranch must be legally resolved or the matter settled in favor of public access; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Attorney General have the resources to resolve this dispute with Haleakala Ranch; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, that the Department of Land and Natural Resources, with the assistance of the Attorney General, is requested to resolve the ongoing dispute over public access to the Haleakala trail with Haleakala Ranch, including the issue of Haleakala Ranch's claim of title to a portion of the trail, to make the trail accessible to the public; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department, with the assistance of the Attorney General, is requested to submit to the Legislature a report of progress made in resolving the dispute with Haleakala Ranch no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2010 Regular Session of the Legislature, and a final report of the resolution no later than sixty days after final resolution; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources and the Attorney General.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Haleakala Trail; Public Access