Park Service seeks public input on Ala Kahakai trail expansion in Kona
Public comments are open on Kauleolī, a 95-acre South Kona shoreline parcel just south of Puuhonua o Hōnaunau. The plan could shape trail access, cultural protection and visitor use through May 15.
The National Park Service is asking South Kona to help shape what comes next for Kauleolī, a 95-acre shoreline parcel just south of Puuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, before the agency locks in a long-term plan for the site and a future section of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail.
Comments are open through May 15 on the Kauleolī Unit Management Plan, and the Park Service held a community meeting April 18 at the Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook, where residents, cultural practitioners and descendants could weigh in on how the land should be cared for. The agency says the planning effort is meant to establish a long-term management vision for Kauleolī, including protection of cultural resources, community uses, appropriate visitor experiences, and any facilities or infrastructure that may be needed.
Kauleolī sits within a much larger coastal corridor that the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail has been building since it was established in 2000 to preserve, protect and interpret traditional Native Hawaiian culture and natural resources. The trail now runs more than 175 miles along Hawaii Island’s western and southern coasts and encompasses a network of culturally and historically significant trails across more than 200 ahupuaa.
The Park Service acquired Kauleolī in two phases, taking 63 acres in 2016 and 32 contiguous acres in 2021. The agency says those acquisitions were made to protect important cultural sites, preserve a historic stretch of trail and protect the view plane from Puuhonua o Hōnaunau to the south. Superintendent Aric Arakaki said Kauleolī is a place with deep history and meaning for many South Kona families.
That is why the public-input window matters now. The choices made in this planning stage will help determine how much of Kauleolī remains centered on preservation, how much public access is appropriate along the shoreline, and what kind of stewardship will be required to keep visitor use, maintenance needs and nearby development pressure from overwhelming a sensitive coastal landscape. Local reporting has also noted that the site’s position in the state conservation district makes the federal plan especially consequential for a shoreline where limited construction can still be allowed.
The Park Service says the Kauleolī plan is required to meet legal and policy requirements for the unit, and it expects to complete the plan by 2027. For South Kona, the next two weeks are the last clear chance to influence how this historically rich shoreline is managed before the trail’s next chapter hardens into policy.
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