DLNR Arrests Guide For Illegal Lava Tours

[Punatic007]

You would think law enforcement could focus on more pertinent issues. Or work towards creating more viewing sites. I thought Hawaii was a big tourist destination?

[ericlp]

I think what it comes down to is safety more than anything.

Take this scenario for example. The state lets a few so called "experienced lava guides" make some money off of taking a bus load of tourist on a hike from 130 .4 miles in. Easy right?

Fine and great right? Till, highway 130 becomes a parking lot full of tourist that just want to go hike for themselves and save 100 bucks or whatever they charge. Now even the word is out but is obvious as 50-100 cars a day are now being parked on 130. Now the locals wanna go too! So you got 200-300 car jammed driving 5 mph on a 55 mph zone looking for parking spots and pulling U turns on 130. If you want to make it a tourist attraction, you're gonna need a lot of parking and a nice way to shuffle 500-600 people in and out of it to see the lava.

Unless the state moves in and starts making a big parking lot with safe entrance and exit from 130, it's gonna be all kinds of problems.

So that is why they don't want people just parking to the nearest spot and hiking in. Once you open it up to the few the masses will come.


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[VancouverIslander]

If they were heading to the flows up slope from Pahoa, they would almost certainly have crossed private land to get there. Honestly, when it comes to public lands, I think DLNR is trigger happy closing them down. I would love to see legislation to make access to public lands much more "at your own risk" to remove the overly protective regulations that have been cropping up. I'm fairly familiar with the Kahaualea Forest Reserve, and frankly, it's really no more dangerous now than it was before they closed it to public access. Just stay 1km or more away from Pu'u'o'o, watch your step and don't go if you aren't able to navigate and stay safe in a jungle. Unfortunately, nanny state regulations prohibit us from going there now, which is too bad as there are some great hikes and a nice view of the most active vent on the most active volcano in the world. It would be great if it were possible for tour companies to organize tours to the Pahoa flow legally as well, perhaps by acquiring insurance, permits and permission from land owners in a way that holds the land owner blameless. It seems to me, however, that DLNR likes to say "you need a permit" for things that they don't actually issue permits for and their default answer to anything is to shut public lands down to public access. Doesn't make much sense, does it?

Just call me Mike

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

creating more viewing sites

The current flow is in a fairly isolated area. The county/state/federal government just spent $20 million dollars on Railroad Ave, Beach Road, and Chain of Craters Road. There's probably not much money left in the budget to build a road to a hot lava flow (which is what we all want to see), only to have it continue down the hill, or breakout up the hill, out of sight of the newly constructed viewing area.

[leilanidude]

You gotta wonder... Was he paying GET on that cash he was getting for his tours?

[rainyjim]

I agree that it's absurd to call areas closed to the public 'public lands'.

Also I understand the connection but I would like to point out that hiking to see the lava doesn't directly equate with parking illegally. Parking would have an indirect relationship with the lava, not direct.

Hikers could be dropped off whether by friends/families or tour buses.

So using illegal parking to excuse prohibited access to lava viewing is rather arbitrary.

Kind of like attributing transgenic organisms to the negative aspects of pesticides. Of course pesticides have some negative aspects but they existed before transgenics and exist still but not because of transgenics. Similarly people park illegally for all sorts of reasons there is no direct relationship only indirect.

[ericlp]

Rainy Jim, have you even dealt with the public, maybe you might get dropped off, but what about the rest of the 600 of em?

Take one example, UH Hilo, No parking signs up and down the street ... YET... The place is packed with people because they don't want to pay 5 bucks a month it cost to park there in a legal stall.

Don't believe me, drive up for yourself, all those people are illegally parked on the left side of the street.

And for a tourist? What's a 30-40 dollar parking ticket to them? That's just a night out. They don't care. If you can't see the handwriting on the wall nothing will convince you.


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[snorkle]

rainyjim asks:
"How many people have died from the volcanic activity?"

Several over the years, as a result of Kilauea's current eruption. The dead and injured have been people who have wandered onto the flow unprepared and without a thorough knowledge of what they're doing.

People have been rescued by County Emergency responders in Kalapana, Volcano, and Captain's Trail. A Helicopter once crash landed into Pu'u O'o Crater while another endangered it's crew making a rescue. The Helicopter was severly damaged.

I understand people wanting to see the lava. What bugs me is people who foolishly put others in danger with their self interest. In the thirty plus years of this eruption, the County has made every opportunity available for viewing when it can be safely and legally done. Tens of thousands of folks have witnessed the lava. Why should the County expose itself and it's workers to injury or litigation by allowing people to act stupidly?

[jackson]

I don't understand why this is an issue. The county doesn't want to spend time and resources rescuing fools. Have you ever hiked Captain's Trail at night?

[Punatic007]

I crossed public lands, private lands, nobody cared back in the day, in the 80's and 90's in Kalapana. I took out groups of people too, never charged a cent, people just knew I was hiking in and asked if they could follow me.

That was the beauty of living here then. No one bothered us and we took personal responsibility for our own behavior. Maybe one of these days the USA will stop with all the lawsuits. I favor huge penalties for frivolous suits. But who knows exactly why the local gov didn't bother us at all back then and know they are so controlling? Statistically it's still thousands of times safer for example to swim in the ocean than get in your car. Most likely similar crazy odds for hiking to the flow today.