• State parks
State parks
Kaua‘i’s state parks are diamonds in the rough. The parks encompass fantastic sections of land at Ke‘e Beach, Koke‘e, mauka Wailua and other areas on Kaua‘i.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources has been somewhat hamstrung in recent years due to budget constraints in efforts to fix up and improve visitor facilities at the parks. In addition, better use of the park lands could be accomplished with an investment from the state; such an investment would easily pay off in terms of providing more points of interest for visitors.
Kaua‘i has about half the total state parks land in the entire state, and has no National Parks sites, like the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island.
Gov. Linda Lingle’s tourism liaison spoke before the Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau’s annual membership meeting earlier this week and said that the governor plans to ask the Legislature to allow the creation of bonds that would pump tens of millions of dollars into the state parks effort.
The proposal is being called the largest expenditure of its kind since statehood.
To pay the bonds off it’s likely the state will charge new user fees, probably for entrance to some parks. That proposal came up during recent meetings on the future of state lands at Koke‘e.
This is a complete turn around from the administration of Gov. Ben Cayetano, who chose not to fund requests from the local visitor industry for funds to fix up the state parks.
Lingle’s plan to improve our state parks is a good idea, and long overdue. The quality of our park lands is deteriorating wit the increase in the Island’s population, and because of the large number of visitors who arrive on our shores each year. Preserving the park lands, improving areas where visitors are directed to and increasing archaeological research at Na Pali and other areas are goals that should be made.
In the 1960s the late photographer/author/conservationist Robert Wenkam created the Sierra Club book titled “The Park County of Kauai.” Wenkam’s wondrous photographs captured the pristine condition of the park lands of that era. His written argument in the book came in a decade when there was federal support for turning the Koke‘e-Na Pali area into a national park. The death of President John F. Kennedy curtailed the plan.
Wenkam’s vision for Kaua‘i should be infused into plans for our state park lands. His hopes to conserve Kaua‘i are partly impossible to complete – he attempted to purchase the tableland the Princeville Resort sits on for a park reserve – but his overall vision is still valid.
While Lingle’s proposal is sure to be become a political issue once the Democratic side of the Legislature is given it, support from Kaua‘i residents through calling or writing our Legislators should help to accomplish this plan.
