National park seeks community input on Kahuku Unit site management plan

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is looking at the future of management for 132,000-plus acres of the Kahuku ahupuaʻa (traditional land division) in Kaʻū and it wants to know what you think should be part of the plan.

Kaʻū community members can comment on the park’s Kahuku Unit site management plan through 8:59 p.m. Dec. 6.

The area includes upper and lower Kahuku, mauka (toward the mountain) of Highway 11, and the recently acquired Kahuku-Pōhue, makai (toward the ocean) of the highway.

There are several ways the community can get involved and learn more.

Attend a public meeting:

• 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Nāʻālehu Community Center, 95-5635 Hawaiʻi Belt Road.
• 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 16 at the Kahuku Visitor Contact Station, Māmalahoa Highway mile marker 70.5.

Attend a virtual meeting:

• 6 to 8 p.m. Dec. 3 via Zoom.

Review the project story map and submit comments online:

• Click here to access the plan.

“We urge the Kaʻū community to join us in this planning process,” said Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park Superintendent Rhonda Loh. “The site management plan presents ideas intended to balance the protection of cultural and natural resources with visitor access and recreation, and to nurture the connection generations of Kaʻū families have to these special places mauka to makai.”