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| The sun sets at Kalawao on the Kalaupapa peninsula. Change is coming to the former place of exile. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom |
A vision for Kalaupapa
Management will change after former patients pass on
By T. Ilihia Gionson / Ka Wai Ola
Since 1980, the Kalaupapa National Historic Park on Moloka'i has endeavored to preserve the area's natural and cultural resources and maintain the lifestyles of the remaining handful of former Hansen's disease patients who choose to live out their lives there.
In the 19th centry, the original inhabitants of the remote peninsula were removed to make room for people with Hansen's disease – then known as leprosy – who were banished to the area starting in 1865. Over the course of a century, approximately 8,000 people would be quarantined there – many of them Native Hawaiians who by virtue of their ancestry were more susceptible to the disease. And now, the National Park Service is planning to guide the park through the next 20 years.
The management plan is being developed in anticipation of a time of great change in Kalaupapa. Father Damien de Veuster tended to patients in Kalaupapa until he died of the disease himself in 1889. He is bound for sainthood in October, which is expected to bring an influx of faithful to Moloka'i. The park also must prepare for the changes that will occur when the remaining 21 residents of Kalaupapa pass on.
The general management plan will take several years to develop and will be used to guide the preservation of its resources, management of its facilities and future uses and experiences that the park will provide. Pre-scoping meetings have been held with various stakeholder groups, and the process will continue with public workshops this month and next. This is the first of three planned rounds of public meetings and comment periods. A first draft of the plan is expected in early 2012.
Kalaupapa is bounded by 3,000-foot cliffs and is home to many rare native species. The park's boundary extends a quarter-mile offshore, including the two small islands of 'Ōkala and Huelo. Those islands are home to the only native palm, loulu and the endemic pua'ala.
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is offering its support in the planning process to Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa, a nonprofit group that works to preserve the area's history and ensure that former patients who want to remain there are allowed to do so, said Moloka'i and Lāna'i Trustee Colette Machado. Machado is also a member of the Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa board.
For information about the Kalaupapa National Historic Park general management plan or to be added to the mailing list, contact Steve Prokop, park superintendent,
at 808-567-6802 or KALA_GMP@nps.gov, or by mail at
P.O. Box 2222, Kalaupapa, HI 96742.
Public Scoping Workshops The National Park Service will be holding public meetings to gather input for a general management plan for Kalaupapa National Historic Park. Meetings are scheduled as follows: Hawai'i
Maui
Moloka'i
O'ahu
Kaua'i
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