The famous Haʻikū Stairs were constructed as part of a military radio installation during World War II.  For decades, local residents were able to access the stairs that climb 2,820 feet from the base of Haʻikū Valley to a prominent ridge above Kāneʻohe in Windward Oahu.  The stairs are unique in the world and the view from the top is incomparable.  This public resource should be preserved and shared with our future generations.

For more than 20 years, the stairs have not had a managed access route, giving rise to severe nuisance to neighbors in the area who have called for its removal.  Recently an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), prepared by the city, found that MANAGED ACCESS to the stairs was preferable to tearing down the stairs.  According to that 4,528 page document, a legal managed access system would resolve the concerns of nuisance and trespassing raised by neighbors near the base of the stairs by routing hikers solely through state land.  Managed access would also absolve the city of liability, create local jobs, stimulate the local economy, and would leave the City and State governments $2,140,000 better off than a proposal to remove the stairs would.  Visitors would be charged a fee to enter so that security and maintenance for the stairs would not be at taxpayers' expense.  Hikers would be assembled in a commercial area in Kāneʻohe Town and shuttled to the stairs.  A well-managed public access plan should also support environmental protection and Hawaiian cultural education in the area.

Contrary to these findings in the EIS, the Honolulu City Council is considering a resolution to tear down the stairs.  The City administration has not taken a clear position on what to do with the Haʻikū Stairs.

Now is the time for the People of Hawaii to call on our government to SAVE the HAʻIKŪ STAIRS and support the Managed Access Alternative.

We call on the elected representatives to preserve the Haʻikū Stairs for well-managed access for our people.