{"id":208810,"date":"2025-09-07T23:38:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T23:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/208810\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T23:38:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T23:38:11","slug":"healthy-coconut-trees-cut-down-on-popular-kauai-trail-state-staff-reprimanded-for-not-protecting-natural-resources-big-island-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/208810\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthy coconut trees cut down on popular Kaua\u2018i trail; state staff reprimanded for not protecting natural resources : Big Island Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Hawai\u02bbi State Department of Land and Natural Resources is facing criticism from residents and outdoor enthusiasts after its employees cut down more than a dozen healthy coconut trees along the Kalalau Trail on the N\u0101pali Coast of Kaua\u02bbi.<\/p>\n

The coconut trees, which lined a popular area near the Kalalau Stream in the N\u0101pali Coast State Wilderness Park, were photographed in pieces on what\u2019s being called the \u2018Kalalau Coconut Massacre,\u2019 on the popular Kalalau Trail Facebook page. <\/p>\n

\"OneOne of 14 young coconut trees that lined a popular area near the Kalalau Stream in the N\u0101pali Coast State Wilderness Park. (Photo Credit: Paul Dee) <\/p>\n

Alan B. Carpenter, state parks assistant administrator at the Department of Land and Natural Resources, acknowledged in an email to Kaua\u02bbi Now that the department \u201ccut down approximately a dozen young coconut trees.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said it was \u201ca well-intentioned action taken by staff who were trying to address several long-standing problems related to people illegally camping, building and planting in the valley.\u201d<\/p>\n

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/b>ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/b><\/p>\n

Regardless of intent, he said the tree cutting was \u201cunfortunate and grievous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hundreds of upset residents commenting on the Facebook page demanded answers, including Kaua\u02bbi Councilmember Fern Holland. She wrote: \u201cI am putting in a formal inquiry and following up.\u201d<\/p>\n

She received the same response from the Department of Land and Natural Resources that Kaua\u02bbi Now did.<\/p>\n

\"AnotherAnother coconut tree can be seen cut down in what\u2019s called the \u2018Kalalau Coconut Massacre,\u2019 according to the popular Kalalau Trail Facebook page. (Photo Credit: Paul Dee) <\/p>\n

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/b><\/p>\n

Carpenter said there are better ways to address the important issues of public health, safety and protecting park resources than cutting down trees in a wilderness park. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The responsible staff have been reprimanded and counseled, Carpenter said.<\/p>\n

He added that State Parks administrators will reinforce policies to prevent such incidents from recurring. \u00a0<\/p>\n

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cOur mission is to protect and share Hawai\u02bbi\u2019s natural and cultural resources, and this was a failure in that regard,\u201d Carpenter said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Hawai\u02bbi State Department of Land and Natural Resources is facing criticism from residents and outdoor enthusiasts after…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":208811,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[114677,14887,14888,114678,114679,4299,114680,746,114681,114682,114683,114684,114685,114686,114687,114688,114689,114690,89205,159,114691,114692,114693,67,132,68,114694],"class_list":{"0":"post-208810","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-alan-b-carpenter","9":"tag-big-island-news","10":"tag-big-island-now","11":"tag-building-violations","12":"tag-coconut-trees","13":"tag-conservation-efforts","14":"tag-department-of-land-and-natural-resources","15":"tag-environment","16":"tag-environmental-advocates","17":"tag-healthy-trees","18":"tag-illegal-camping","19":"tag-kalalau-stream","20":"tag-kalalau-trail","21":"tag-long-standing-problems","22":"tag-napali-coast","23":"tag-napali-coast-state-wilderness-park","24":"tag-park-management","25":"tag-public-criticism","26":"tag-resident-concerns","27":"tag-science","28":"tag-staff-action","29":"tag-state-parks-assistant-administrator","30":"tag-tree-removal","31":"tag-united-states","32":"tag-unitedstates","33":"tag-us","34":"tag-valley-issues"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}