HONOLULU — The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife reopened the Moanalua Section of the Honolulu Watershed Reserve as the removal of the Haiku Stairs has stalled because of litigation.

What You Need To Know

  • DOFAW closed the Moanalua Section at the request of the City and County of Honolulu on June 12 as hikers were using the area to illegally access the Haiku Stairs 

  • The removal of the Haiku Stairs is currently halted as lawsuits work their way through the courts 

  • Officials are still discouraging hiking the Middle Ridge because of extensive erosion that is damaging the native forest

DOFAW closed the Moanalua Section at the request of the City and County of Honolulu on June 12, because of safety concerns related to the dismantling of the Haiku Stairs. 

“Now that the project is tied up in litigation, we wanted to restore access to the forest reserve. However, we are asking hikers to avoid ascending Middle Ridge, as hiker activity has created extensive erosion issues that are damaging the native forest,” said DOFAW Oahu Branch Manager Marigold Zoll in a statement. 

A team of volunteers worked earlier this month to correct some of the drainage issues on Middle Ridge in an attempt to protect the native forest, according to a news release. 

On July 22, the City and County of Honolulu reopened the Moanalua Valley Neighborhood Park, which had also been closed to limit access to people illegally seeking to hike the Haiku Stairs. 

In April, the City began dismantling Haiku Stairs, which requires removing nearly 4,000 stairs and was expected to take six months. While Haiku Stairs was already illegal to access, trespassers started flocking to the trail for one last hike. Often they would hike up the “Backside to Stairway,” which takes hikers to the summit of the Koolau Mountains and allows them to descend the Haiku Stairs. In May, the Department of Land and Natural Resources announced the closure of the “Backside to Stairway,” also referred to as the Middle Ridge. The following month, the entire Moanalua section of the Honolulu Watershed Forest Reserve was closed.

However, the dismantling of the stairs is partially on hold after the nonprofit Friends of Haiku Stairs filed two lawsuits against the City. In July, a court of appeals ordered the City to partially halt its dismantling until one of the lawsuits was resolved, according to the Honolulu Civil Beat. The City said it was still removing stairway modules that were previously detached from the mountain, while pausing the rest of the dismantling project. 

Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.

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