PBR HAWAII conducted the Honua‘ula Forest Reserve Public Use Study in support of a larger planning effort by the State of Hawai‘i, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) to develop the Honua‘ula Forest Reserve Management Plan. The Honua‘ula Forest Reserve, like many reserves within the DOFAW managed Forest Reserve System, was established as a public-private partnership to protect local forested lands. Historically, the majority of the reserve was landlocked and public access was granted only to those who received permission to traverse neighboring private properties. Due to a recent land acquisition that now connects the majority of the reserve to a major State highway, the reserve is more accessible to the public. To support existing demand for recreational space within the reserve and plan for the long term sustainable management of uses into the future, DOFAW contracted PBR HAWAII to develop the Honua‘ula Public Use Study which investigated publicly supported recreational opportunities and provided an analysis of the associated potential impacts to natural resources. The analysis was performed by integrating public use preference data into a natural resource planning framework developed by Federal agencies within the Interagency Visitor Use Management Council (IVUMC).
PBR HAWAII is responsible for engaging community members and key stakeholders in a manner that allowed for the integration of public use preference data into a federal planning framework that systematically addresses public uses within a sensitive ecological system. PBR HAWAII prepared this study as a component of the overall Honua‘ula Forest Reserve Management Plan.
