We, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with Waipiʻo farmers and longtime residents and their petition to the County of Hawaiʻi to PROTECT WAIPIʻO VALLEY and rescind the Amended Traffic Emergency Zone Declaration and First Waipiʻo Valley Road Declaration of Emergency.  We ask that, until the County addresses all safety concerns relating to the Waipiʻo Road, only residents and farmers access Waipiʻo in ways they always have, which includes on horseback, ATVs and in the back of pick-up trucks.  

Our kūpuna confirm that Waipiʻo Valley is a wahi pana or sacred place. As the center of Hawaiian civilization in ancient times, Waipiʻo continues to hold spiritual, cultural, and ancestral connections to many Hawaiians descended from High Chief Līloa and the many generations of taro farmers who have sustained Hawaiʻi Island with kalo and poi for hundreds of years.

After decades of meetings with the County of Hawaiʻi expressing that Waipiʻo is a wahi pana and that access should be restricted to taro farmers and residents only, the kūpuna of Waipiʻo are respectfully asking that all non residents and non farmers DO NOT ENTER Waipiʻo Valley, until our safety concerns, and the issues of the Preliminary Geotechnical Engineering Evaluation are addressed. 

For media, resources, questions and information, contact: protectwaipiovalley@gmail.com // @protectwaipiovalley