Blog

Monday, August 27, 2007

Keep the trees where they are at Magic Island!

The Outdoor Circle is in complete agreement with the Honolulu Star Bulletin. The caption of their editorial, dated August 27, 2007 reads, “Move the stage, not the trees.” We concur.

It all started with an anonymous letter which stated that the city was negotiating with a group to hold a large concert at Magic Island. The trees, it asserted, would block the view of the stage and the city had planned to remove and/or relocate them.

This was hard to believe. TOC staff speaks with the city’s Division of Urban Forestry at least three times a week about various tree issues. No one ever told us about a plan to remove or relocate trees at Magic Island. Nor had they told us about a large concert planned for next spring. We later learned that city employees and consultants were given orders to keep the entire plan under wraps.

We wrote to Honolulu’s Director of Parks and Recreation and learned that it was true! For more than a year the city has been working with a group called Blue Planet Festival. The plan is to hold a two day symposium on energy sustainability and then a two day music and arts festival at Magic Island. Festival promoters hope for 25,000 – 30,000 people to attend the concert this year with plans of growing the annual festival’s attendance to as many as 50,000 in future years.

The irony of this potential debacle was not lost on us. A group claiming to promote sustainable energy and operating under an umbrella of environmental sensitivity wants to rip out and relocate mature trees to improve views for a concert. In addition, the promoters say for several days the event will close all of Magic Island for public use. The only people allowed in will be those who pay for a ticket—price yet to be announced. The event also will restrict public access to and usage of other parts of Ala Moana Beach Park as well.

When we met with the promoters and city officials to learn about the plan they explained that this is the only location on O‘ahu large enough to accommodate the event. Perhaps they’re not familiar with Aloha Stadium? Blue Planet Festival also claimed that the city will benefit because they will leave the park better than when they began. But they were unable to explain what their plan was or how the park would be enhanced. It is hard for us to believe that removing and/or relocating 15 or more trees from the center of Magic Island will enhance it at all.

The Outdoor Circle believes that making permanent changes in a park to accommodate a temporary event is completely unconscionable. We believe it is the City’s responsibility to be a steward of our park lands not a promoter of paid events.

We urge the people of Honolulu to closely monitor this still evolving story. That’s certainly what The Outdoor Circle intends to do.

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

H-2 Tree Massacre Act 2

On August 6, 2007 six employees from the Department of Transportation (DOT) met with Outdoor Circle (TOC) volunteers and staff to discuss the ongoing tree massacre on the H-2 Freeway. Earlier DOT promised that all tree work on the highway would stop until TOC and its volunteer arborists examined the arborist report, walked the entire site and reviewed a replanting plan, but DOT contractors continued to cut trees leaving three-foot stumps in their wake.

At our sit-down it was agreed by DOT that they made some “mis-steps.” They offered in the future to provide TOC with all work orders their maintenance department issues relating to pruning and removing trees. DOT expressed its hope that in doing so future miscommunications will be avoided.

We believe that the amount of negative attention this project generated took DOT by surprise. At first DOT’s public spokesman claimed the trees were cut because they were dangerous, then he said it was because they were invasive, and finally he claimed it was because they were a fire hazard. None of this was necessarily true and it was clear the DOT was shooting from the hip using any excuse it could find in order to justify the mess it created.

Let’s hope that DOT learned an important lesson…TOC must be consulted before any projects of this magnitude are undertaken again. Our members are always watching. Mahalo to each of you who contacted us frantic for information. We hope that you are satisfied with our actions. We are not finished. In fact, we promise that H-2 will be green again!