DLNR NEWS RELEASE: PUBLIC MEETING FOR KAMEHAMENUI FOREST RESERVE DRAFT MANAGEMENT PLAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
Posted on Oct 7, 2025 in Latest Department News, NewsroomSTATE OF HAWAIʻI
KA MOKU ʻĀINA O HAWAIʻI
JOSH GREEN, M.D.
GOVERNOR
KE KIAʻĀINA
DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES
KA ‘OIHANA KUMUWAIWAI ‘ĀINA
DAWN N.S. CHANG
CHAIRPERSON
PUBLIC MEETING FOR KAMEHAMENUI FOREST RESERVE DRAFT MANAGEMENT PLAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 7, 2025
KAHULUI, Hawaiʻi – Community members are encouraged to attend and provide comments at the upcoming:
Public Meeting on the
Proposed Kamehamenui Forest Reserve Draft Management Plan
and Environmental Assessment
October 15, 2025
5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
(Kula) Von Tempsky Community Center
4355 Lower Kula Rd.
Kula, HI 96790
The State Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) will provide information and receive public input.
A detailed account of the scoping meetings of August 10, 2022, October 12, 2022, and October 19, 2022, including attendance, topics, comments, and summaries is included in the Draft Environmental Assessment (EA), Appendix A, beginning on page 177, available online at:
The EA of the draft management plan was published September 23, 2025.
Comments are due by October 23 at 11:59 p.m.
Interested persons may provide input on the Kamehamenui Forest Reserve DRAFT Management Plan and Environmental Assessment Feedback Form:
To submit comments by mail, send to:
Kamehamenui Forest Reserve Draft Management Plan – Comments
P.O. Box 2143
‘Ewa Beach, HI 96706-9998
Background
Adding a new parcel to public lands is a rare event and opportunity on an island. In September of 2020, the DLNR purchased from a private landowner 3,433 acres of land known as Kamehamenui on the northwestern slopes of Haleakalā in Kula on Maui. Upper portions of the parcel include native shrubland ecosystems and provide habitat for nesting endangered seabirds and other wildlife. It will become part of the state lands managed by DLNR DOFAW, the agency mandated to protect, restore and monitor natural resources within state forest reserves. To effectively do this, DOFAW staff work with the community to develop comprehensive management plans that address the issues, goals and objectives for each individual forest reserve which, in part, also reflects the division’s management guidelines specific to that area.
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RESOURCES
(All images/video courtesy: DLNR)
HD video – Kamehamenui Forest Reserve (Sept. 4, 2020):
Photographs – Kamehamenui Forest Reserve (Sept. 4, 2020):
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/99dqd748614eykc/AADDkOAfU6f2oztkwe2xwrXZa?dl=0
Media Contact:
Andrew Laurence
Communications Director
State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources
Phone: 808-587-0407
Email: [email protected]