HCR185.DOC

WHEREAS, scenic byways are recognized as roads that incorporate and reflect noteworthy natural, historic, and cultural features of an area; and

WHEREAS, these scenic byways afford visitors a pleasurable experience as they travel the byways, while the economies of the local communities within which these byways are situated benefit reciprocally from visitor activity; and

WHEREAS, Congress established the National Scenic Byways Program in 1991 under the Intermodal Transportation Efficiency Act and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century; and

WHEREAS, the National Scenic Byways Program is a voluntary program designed to help states protect and promote their scenic roads by which states apply for funding from the Federal Highway Administration of the United States Department of Transportation and submit nominations of certain roads for designation as scenic byways by the Federal Highway Administration; and

WHEREAS, for example, the state Department of Transportation initiated the North Kona Heritage Corridor Project on the Big Island with community input as a first step to establishing a state scenic byway designation for that area; and

WHEREAS, in the early years of the 16th century, Pi`ilani Makua, the king of Maui, and his son, Kiha-a-Pi`ilani, constructed within a span of about five years a pathway uniting west and east Maui known as Alanui-Kike`eke`e-a-Maui, or the winding pathway of Maui, which proceeded clockwise around the northern coast of west Maui across the isthmus to Haleakala Mountain; and

WHEREAS, an eighteen-mile stretch of the pathway from Honokowai to Kahakuloa, known as Na Hono-a-Pi`ilani, or the Pi`ilani Trail, connects the six sacred bays of Pi`ilani, each with distinct Hawaiian names that reflect their uniqueness; and

WHEREAS, the six sacred bays of Pi`ilani consist of:

(1) Honokowai bay, or the "watering bay," which is a long, slight curve of calcareous beach sandstone, hard as rock, that extends into the sea about three feet deep;

(2) Honokeana bay, or the "cave bay," which is a deep, boxy recess where the sea has eroded a bed of red ash, coloring the water a murky red;

(3) Honokahua bay, or the "sites bay," which is a beautiful, peaceful, open, sandy beach now known as Kapalua that is a closed semicircular shape with long waves washing far up on the shore, ringed with palm trees and jutting black lava rock;

(4) Honolua bay, or "two harbors bay," which lies along the coast where winds are brisk and ironwood trees form windbreaks that bring fragrance to the air as their soft needles cushion the ground;

(5) Honokohau bay, or "bay drawing dew bay," which lies at the mouth of Honokohau Stream, Maui's longest stream, where the surface of the land slopes into the sea to meet Molokai. The nearly inaccessible waterfall at the head of Honokohau Stream drops 1,690 feet, making it the sixth tallest waterfall in the world and the second tallest in the nation after Yosemite in California; and

(6) Hononana bay, or "animated bay," which lies at the mouth of Hononana gulch where nearby rests a boulder alongside the road called Pohakukani, the "bell stone," which when struck with a rock, sounds like the ringing of a massive bell, but with a metallic timbre; and

WHEREAS, there is great interest from the community to designate as a scenic byway the Pi`ilani Trail, the eighteen-mile Heritage Corridor from Honokowai to Kahakuloa featuring the six sacred bays of Pi`ilani, to preserve the area and to provide access for the public; and

WHEREAS, funding assistance is required to continually maintain scenic byways and to preserve their accessibility to the public; and

WHEREAS, it is unrealistic during the current local, national, and global economic downturn to draw on state general funds to support worthwhile scenic byways projects; however, the Federal Highway Administration administers a fund to provide assistance to states whose projects qualify according to federal guidelines; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, the Senate concurring, that the Office of the Governor is requested to convene a Scenic Byways Working Group to select possible sites statewide, including the Pi`ilani Trail on Maui, for proposed federal designation as scenic byways and to develop the federally required corridor management plan, as defined in the National Scenic Byways Program Interim Policy; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of the Governor is requested to include in the Scenic Byways Working Group representatives from the Departments of Transportation, Land and Natural Resources, and Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, relevant county agencies, and representatives from community groups residing in areas where proposed scenic byways are located; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of the Governor is requested to consult with and invite representatives from the Federal Highway Administration and any other relevant federal agency to participate in the deliberations of the Scenic Byways Working Group; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of the Governor is requested to act upon the findings and recommendations of the Scenic Byways Working Group by submitting:

(1) Nominations of roads selected by the Working Group for designation as scenic byways; and

(2) Applications for federal funding to support the promotion, maintenance, and repair of these roads,

to the Federal Highway Administration of the United States Department of Transportation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of the Governor is requested to report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2010, on the progress of the Scenic Byways Working Group and the status of any application to the Federal Highways Administration for funding and to designate selected roads of the State as scenic byways; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Directors of Transportation and Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, the mayor and chairperson of the council of each county, the Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, and the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Federal Designation; Scenic Byways Working Group; Pi`ilani Trail

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	185
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009
STATE OF HAWAII