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DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES News Release LINDA LINGLE GOVERNOR _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PETER T. YOUNG, CHAIRPERSON
Phone: (808) 587-0401
Fax: (808) 587-0390
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For Immediate Release:
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HONOLULU -- The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) will implement partial closures of the Diamond Head State Monument, starting on Wednesday, January 17, 2007, to begin an assessment of rockfall hazards on the historic summit trail within the crater. The assessment will involve inspection of both the summit trail and the vertical rock faces above and below portions of the summit trail. During this two-week-long assessment, the park will be closed on four non-consecutive days in the afternoons, in the interest of public safety. However, the park will open in the mornings, and every other day it will be open all day, to allow the public to continue to visit and hike to the summit of Diamond Head. The park and trail will open to park users at 6 a.m. and close at 1 p.m. on the following assessment days: Wednesday January 17 Normal park hours (6:00 a.m. - 6 p.m.) will resume on Thursday January 25, 2007. “Diamond Head State Monument is one of our most popular state parks, with over 600,000 visitors a year, and an average of 1,800 visitors per day to the historic summit trail,” said Peter Young, DLNR Chairperson. “Given the heavy use of the summit trail, it is important to maintain trail safety for park visitors,” said Young. “This summit trail inspection is the latest in recent park improvement measures made over the past few years at Diamond Head State Monument, including improvements to the summit lookout, and lighting the tunnel and the spiral staircase along the upper portion of the summit trail,” he said. Earth Tech, Inc., an environmental geotechnical firm, will assess rockfall hazards in and around Diamond Head State Monument, including the historic summit trail inside the crater. Other sites at Diamond Head State Monument that will be assessed include the exterior face of the Kahala Tunnel entrance into the crater, the road cuts for Diamond Head Road, and Poka Place. “During the summit trail assessment, partial closure of this heavily visited park is necessary, as consultants will be using equipment in narrow portions of the trail where no by-pass is available, and rocks may be dislodged in the process,” said Dan Quinn, State Parks administrator. Once the rockfall assessment is complete for each location, Earth Tech will make recommendations that identify viable options for optimum safety and design the most feasible hazard mitigation methods at each location Earth Tech will also do the design, permitting, and provide inspection during the actual work. The assessment project contract is $244,980. Funding for this project comes from the State Parks’ facility capital improvement project (CIP) funds. DLNR Division of State Parks is requesting capital improvement funding from the Legislature this session to carry out rockfall mitigation work at Diamond Head in the amount of $4 million for the biennium. Diamond Head State Monument was named a National Natural Landmark in 1968 because it is an excellent example of a pyroclastic volcano with a typical erosional pattern that has created the crater profile we see today. Most of the people visiting this world-renowned landmark hike the historic 0.8 mile summit trail (built around 1906) for the spectacular view from the summit. For more information about Diamond Head State Monument, or other State Parks of Hawaii, call (808) 587-0300, or visit the DLNR State Parks web site at http://hawaiistateparks.org/ . ###
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