#kamehamenui

The State of Hawaiʻi continues to work on a 10-year management plan for a 3,434-acre parcel of watershed conservation land in Upper Kula that was acquired five years ago from a private trust.

Controlled hunting in the Kamehamenui Forest Reserve on Maui, begins Aug. 15, 2024. Biologists estimate there are approximately 50 ungulates within the control unit,  mostly feral goats. Controlled hunting in the Kamehamenui Forest Reserve ends Oct. 31.

There will be an in-person informational meeting today, Wednesday, Oct. 12, at the Kula Community Center on Lower Kula Rd in Kula, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.  

Kamehamenui is located between Kula Forest Reserve and Haleakalā National Park, and its protection is critical to achieve the overarching goal to restore the “mauna lei”, the band of forest that once encompassed Haleakalā. Restoring this contiguous lei of habitat around the mountain will ensure biological connectivity and restore ecological services.

An anonymous donor is providing more than $1 million in funding to the Nā Ala Hele Trails and Access Program on Maui. Most of the funding will support planning, design, and construction of hiking trails in the recently acquired Kamehamenui Forest in upcountry Maui.  

As the property has just been acquired, it is not yet open to public use.  Over the coming year, DOFAW will add the property to the Forest Reserve System and will initiate consultation with the community to develop a management plan for the area.