09-05-2018, 05:07 AM
Ironyak: "...As for lava viewing, the County is still working on plans (according to Mark Hinshaw, Pahoa Mainstreet Assoc, the current iteration is taking bids for a single tour company that would be allowed to access the restricted areas of the lava flow field)."
Tom: "Previous discussions about this seem to imply that it was active lava flows tourists might want to see."
Apparently there is new thinking from county's regulators, in collaboration with DLNR: Even when the entire fissure zone, including Fissure 8, is completely cold and dead, that portion that is public property will be accessible only with guided tours. The county/DLNR want to discourage unsupervised roaming around lava fields.
How determined the county/DLNR are to enforce this this rule all the way to the ocean remains to be seen (and perhaps they will include the Kalapana flow fields).
Hardened lava fields pose various dangers. The public must be protected. Guides help provide that protection. (By the way there will be a fee to be in a guided group.)
Tom: "Previous discussions about this seem to imply that it was active lava flows tourists might want to see."
Apparently there is new thinking from county's regulators, in collaboration with DLNR: Even when the entire fissure zone, including Fissure 8, is completely cold and dead, that portion that is public property will be accessible only with guided tours. The county/DLNR want to discourage unsupervised roaming around lava fields.
How determined the county/DLNR are to enforce this this rule all the way to the ocean remains to be seen (and perhaps they will include the Kalapana flow fields).
Hardened lava fields pose various dangers. The public must be protected. Guides help provide that protection. (By the way there will be a fee to be in a guided group.)