Maunakea access road to summit could become a toll road; state agencies discuss 2 proposals

State agencies are considering two proposals that involve installing a toll booth on the Maunakea Access Road to charge for access to the summit of the popular volcano on the Big Island.

Although the Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority will soon take over management of the summit from the University of Hawaiʻi, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court has determined that the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is the rightful manager of the land along a four-mile stretch of the Maunakea Access Road.

Since this 2018 decision, the state department has received several project proposals for the road and surrounding area.

During the Hawaiian Homes Commission meeting in May, planning staff presented two land-use proposals from beneficiaries under the department’s ʻĀina Mauna Legacy Program, developed to manage trust lands surrounding Maunakea.

One proposal from the Waimea Hawaiian Homesteaders Association, also known as Waimea Nui, involves charging a yet-to-be-determined access fee for vehicles traveling to the summit. Revenue would be used to build a cultural center, train cultural site stewards, create and apply protocol guides, address human impact, and develop workshops and partnerships with schools, hālau and organizations.

The second proposal is from Native Hawaiian tour operator Koa Kiaʻi and focuses on revenue from a toll booth, food truck, gift shop and various tours on Maunakea. The for-profit tours would include walking and biking tours, astronomy and cultural tours, and restoration tours. A nonprofit would conduct reforestation work and cultural education and monitoring.

For Waimea Nui, managing the access road would also benefit the Waimea community with farming opportunities and projects that include constructing a community health center. Koa Kiaʻi seeks to help Department of Hawaiian Home Lands generate revenue to develop its lands.

Kali Watson, director of Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, has stated the department must consider how proposals align with management goals on the mountain. The Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority has been working in an advisory role for the past 2 1/2 years; however, the decision between proposals ultimately rests with Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

During Thursday’s Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority meeting, Bill Stormont, the authority’s project director, discussed recent meetings regarding the Maunakea Access Road with Vy Lam, economic specialist with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

They both attended the June meeting of the Maunakea Joint Management Committee, co-chaired by the Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority and the Center for Maunakea Stewardship, which manages daily activities on the volcano.

According to Stormont, the discussion about the Maunakea Access Road lasted 90 minutes and included significant concerns about tolls since the road isn’t used to reach a specific destination, unlike other toll roads in the state.

“There was also a lot of discussion about other entities with public use lands accessed via that road, like forest reserve lands for hunting and other recreational uses,” Stormont said. “The Maunakea Access Road is also used to reach Mana Road, a county road relied on by the Department of Land and Natural Resources to access the Hakalau Forest Reserve.”

Stormont said that Lam intends to meet with these entities to discuss potential impacts from implementing a toll for either proposal.

“(Watson) has expressed a desire for everyone to work together on the mountain as a whole,” Stormont said. “Things like a shuttle service and a visitors’ area on Department of Hawaiian Home Lands property lower on the mountain were also discussed and are on our collective minds.”

Stormont reiterated that Watson discussed that revenue from tolls or other charges would be used not only on the access road but elsewhere, which concerned the collective during the Joint Management Committee meeting.

“Since both proposals involve tolls, a lot of the focus is there,” said Greg Chun, executive director of the Center for Maunakea Stewardship. “Part of what the Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority would like to do is talk more holistically and broadly to see if there are other ways to support Department of Hawaiian Home Lands in fulfilling their mission to the beneficiaries and its new responsibility of maintaining the access road.”

Stormont said Lam was invited to the next Joint Management Committee meeting in August to discuss meetings regarding the Maunakea Access Road with other entities.

“There’s still discussion of creating a working group for the access road that would include the Center for Maunakea Stewardship, the Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority, the Department of Land and Natural Resources, and Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, but no action has been taken yet,” Stormont said. “This is a loose arrangement for now, but we intend to closely monitor the situation as it moves forward.”

The Hawaiian Homes Commission will hear a final proposal from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands during its Oct. 20 meeting in Hilo.

While addressing the Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority, Stormont also expressed a desire for the authority to become a partner in the Maunakea Watershed Alliance, aiming to protect and enhance watershed ecosystems, biodiversity and resources.

“This is a collaborative effort on the mountain aimed at caring for Maunakea holistically, beyond property lines,” Stormont said.

According to its website, the alliance includes landholders such as federal and state agencies, land trusts, nonprofits and ranches that work together to manage Maunakea responsibly while promoting economic sustainability and providing recreational, subsistence, educational, and research opportunities.

For more information, the Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority livestreams its public meetings and makes them available on Youtube.