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City Didn't Sign Off on Koko Crater Signs
by PAULA BENDER
Sun Correspondent
Archived March 2008 article
Signs that warned hikers of the possibility that they were in danger of live fire from the Koko Crater shooting range were removed hours after they were posted Friday, February 15, by a city parks employee.
The signs came down, but the half-dozen or more posts, which are embedded in cement, remain. The City plans to address the concerns of area citizens at the February 26, Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board meeting, and discuss, among other things, sign verbiage.
Neither members of the Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board, staff at the Mayor's office, nor personnel at the firing range said they were aware that the signs were going up. Health enthusiasts who regularly use the trail inquired with various city and state offices to find out who authorized the signs. Nathan Kurosawa, who hikes the trail on a daily basis, organized a news conference for that afternoon to draw attention to the new policy. Approximately 50 family and friends of hikers, neighborhood board members, and trail users who routinely climb to the summit at about 5 p.m. on Fridays, met with the media to draw attention to the poorly worded signs.
While at the news conference, word spread that the city had released two statements within the hour, including one that indicated that safety along the trail was the city's concern, and not stray bullets from the firing range.
Before the news conference Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Chairman Greg Knudsen and board member Gary Weller visited the shooting range.
"Shooters are safety trained and monitored, rules are strictly enforced, and barriers prevent guns from being lifted too high," Knudsen said. "The trail is NOT in direct line of fire behind any of the target areas. High-powered rifles are fired from a part of the range even less likely to have a misfire toward the trail. If, in fact, a gun or rifle would misfire, it could be in any direction 360 degrees from the range. The danger, if any, also affects Lanai Lookout, Hanauma Bay, Koko Crater Regional Park and its ball fields, tennis courts and rec center, as well as nearby homes."
At press time, community members were organizing a rally to precede the Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board meeting on Tuesday, February 26, at 6:30 p.m. at Hahaione School, to indicate its solidarity to keep the trail open. Possible solutions to be suggested include having scouting, school clubs, trail and mountain clubs or other interested organizations organize a program to maintain the trail at no expense to the city.
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