Haleakala Air Tour Management Plan being Developed

By Wendy Osher

Haleakala National Park. File Photo by Wendy Osher.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Park Service are in the process of developing an Air Tour Management Plan for commercial air tours in and around Haleakala National Park.  The purpose of the plan is to limit or prevent significant impacts that may be caused by air tours on natural and cultural resources, or to visitor experiences at the Park.

The FAA and NPS will host a series of open house meetings from April 12-14, 2011 to share alternatives and seek public comment.  The meetings will be held at the following times and locations:

• Tuesday, April 12, 2011 5-7 p.m. at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center Alexa Higashi Meeting Room
• Wednesday, April 13, 2011 5-7 p.m. at the Kula Community Center
• Thursday, April 14, 2011 5-7 p.m. at Helene Hall in Hana

The alternatives currently under review were developed by the FAA, NPS and Volpe Transportation Systems staff.  Alternatives include determination of flight paths, number of total flights annually, time of day restrictions, and day of week restrictions.  The public comment period runs through June 6, 2011.

Additional information can be found at the Air Tour Management Update link on the Haleakala National Park website: http://www.nps.gov/hale.  For those that are unable to attend the meetings, comments can be provided online at the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment website: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/hale.

Once the public comment period has passed, the alternatives may be refined, dismissed from further consideration, or new alternatives may be considered.  Alternatives going forward from there, will be analyzed in a Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which will also undergo a public review period.

***Supporting information courtesy NPS.