11 More Arrests Made in Nāpali Coast Sweep

May 25, 2017, 2:52 PM HST

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Eleven more people were arrested as of Thursday morning for being illegally in a closed area in the Kalalau section of the Nāpali Coast State Wilderness Park on Kauaʻi.

This follows 17 arrests earlier this month and more than 200 citations and arrests over the past two years.

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Authorities with the State Department of Land and Natural Resources say personnel from its divisions of State Parks & Conservation and Resources Enforcement continue to put high priority on restoring Hawai‘i’s largest and most remote state park to its true wilderness character by removing people who enter Kalalau illegally and without valid permits.

In addition to the latest arrests, officers from DOCARE and the State Sheriffs pulled up small marijuana plants and two illegal campsites in Kalalau Valley. They also confiscated an illegal crossbow.

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In a statement earlier this month, DOCARE Enforcement Chief Robert Farrell said, “We continue to hear about a lot of illegal activity at Kalalau through social media channels. Some of the behavior depicted on blogs and websites is brazen, clearly illegal, disrespectful to the Hawaiian culture, damaging to natural resources, and completely devoid of any appreciation for the wilderness character of the Nāpali Coast.”

DOCARE Kaua‘i Branch Chief Francis “Bully” Mission added, “The designated camping areas at Kalalau Beach are largely free of illegal camps, but there are still numbers of them up in the valley, where they tend to be remote and often pretty well hidden. It makes it challenging for our officers, but we remain committed to stopping illegal behavior in this wilderness park.”

Enforcement operations to the Nāpali Coast are expensive, complicated, and time-consuming not only for DOCARE, but also for the DLNR Division of State Parks. It conducts at least monthly air-lifts of accumulated rubbish and human waste.

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Travel from the Kalalau Trailhead at Keʻe Beach does not require a permit to Hanakāpiʻai Stream; the first two miles of the trail and another two miles up valley after the stream crossing, to Hanakāpiʻai Falls. The nine miles of coastline trail beyond the stream crossing requires an overnight permit, obtainable from State Parks.