HONOLULU — Conflicts between visitor and resident use in Hawai‘i State Parks were a main highlight of conversation from the first round of discussions relating to the Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, currently being updated by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of State Parks.
Wednesday was the first of several public meetings scheduled on the SCORP, which is a document required for states to receive federal funds through the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The main purpose of the SCORP is to maintain eligibility for those federal funds, according to PBR Hawai‘i planning consultant Katie Collison, who hosted Wednesday’s meeting in partnership with state parks.
LWCF is a federal grant program administered by the National Park Service that assists states and local governments with the acquisition of recreational lands and the development and renovation of recreation facilities.
The meeting was held virtually.
“The purpose of this work is to document outdoor recreation issues, demands and trends of statewide importance so that the state can evaluate and select projects to receive Land and Water Conservation Funds,” Collison said.
“Your participation is really important, because the better that we can help state parks document public needs, demands and issues, the better information that the state has to ultimately select projects to receive federal funding,” she said.
Collison said that in addition to talking to the public, officials are also reaching out to county planning and parks and recreation departments, as well as other state agencies that manage lands used for outdoor recreation, “so that we can get the complete picture from both the managers of outdoor-recreation spaces as well as the consumers of outdoor-recreation spaces in Hawai‘i.”
Since 1967, the state and four counties have received more than $38 million in LWCF grants for the acquisition and development of outdoor-recreation lands and facilities.
“We wanted to just at least let you know what the state parks are thinking about,” Collison said in the first of several virtual public meetings scheduled on the topic.
“Some of the anticipated issues (expected) to rise to the surface in the 2021 SCORP include impacts on natural cultural resources and communities from increased recreation use, as well as the competition and competing uses of outdoor spaces that have multiple values, whether there are cultural, natural-resource values or outdoor-recreation values. Climate change and sea-level rise, of course, are top of mind. Always, maintenance of aging facilities is a concern.”
As the listeners participated in a poll about issues relating to public lands, Collison read some main concerns as they were posted on the screen.
They included general overuse of state park lands, conflicts between tourist and resident recreational usage, access to beaches and free parking for residents, and the need for education about areas that are of cultural and historical significance.
The 2021 update of the SCORP offers an opportunity to re-evaluate Hawai‘i’s recreational needs and trends of statewide importance, she said.
Virtual meetings held in April and May will provide an opportunity for members of the community to identify and discuss recreation needs, trends and priorities for the acquisition and development of outdoor-recreation facilities.
The next island-specific discussion for Kaua‘i is Monday, April 12, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
w Info: dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp/scorp
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Stephanie Shinno, education, business and community reporter, can be reached at 245-0424 or sshinno@thegardenisland.com.
