Finally Getting a “Nerds Eye View” of Things… Via Hawaii National Volcanoes Park

So as most of my readers probably know… I love twitter and have met some pretty cool people because of twitter.

It's @Nerdseyeview without a Ukulele!

This past weekend, I had the chance to meet one of the coolest “Tweeters” and most importantly someone from my old neck of the woods the Pacific Northwest… Pam Mandel, otherwise known as the person behind “Nerd’s Eye View“.

@nerdseyeview talks with guide Warren Costa from Native Guide Hawaii

I was invited with a group of media folks to cruise Hawaii Volcanoes National park with them!

Our first stop was the Volcano Art Museum which I blogged about earlier, then we proceed to tour the Thurston Lava tube which i blogged about previously and then we went on to other parts of the park.

After we toured Thurston Lava Tube, Mr. Costa treated us to a great lunch overlooking one of the craters that consisted of locally grown products.

After lunch we cruised down the Chain of Crater Roads and then pulled off the road for a bit of off trail hiking which lead us to this lava field that was full of “Lava Trees”.

It’s @Nerdseyeview without a Ukulele!

I’m pretty slammed with stuff so I’ll just post the pictures and say mahalo to Warren Costa of Native Guide Hawaii for taking us on this tour with some other folks from the mainland.

You can click on some of the pictures above for a larger picture

Public Info Meeting Set on Availability of Koholālele Lands

From the Mayors Office:

The County of Hawai‘i Finance Department will hold a public meeting to provide information and receive input on a proposed sale, lease, or exchange of lands at Koholālele near Pa‘auilo. The site consists of two parcels totaling approximately 1,040 acres (Tax Map Keys:(3)4-2-5:01 & 05).

The meeting will be held at the Pa‘auilo Gym located at 43-977 Pa‘auilo Nui Road, Pa‘auilo, on May 20, 2010.  Interested persons may drop in any time between 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.  County personnel will be available to answer questions or record comments.  Maps, exhibits, and handouts will also be available.

Janice Palma-Glennie on ‘O’oma: “Learn from Past Mistakes”

Overwhelming opposition to O'oma: 10 for, 50 against. 150 turnout

Commentary:

If the State Land Use Commission (LUC) hadn’t reclassified Kohanaiki (“Pine Trees”) out of its former Conservation status for resort and urban development, the community wouldn’t have had to fight for 20 years to secure access and a shoreline public park there. In fact, without its resale value continually increased by government-added entitlements and speculative purchases, Kohanaiki’s 500 acres may well have been saved from bulldozing and now set aside as public, open space (as it should have been). Add that to the enlarging Hokulia and Palamanui debacles (and next door Shores of Kohanaiki’s hulking shell) and a slower economy, and it seems there’s a pretty significant lesson here for the LUC as it makes its decision whether or not to reclassify `O`oma for more urban development.

`O`oma Beachside Villages LLC development plan may look good on paper, but it won’t on Kona’s diminishing coastal, Conservation land. As for the real estate and construction industry’s worn-out and, frankly, sickenly repetitious claims that more approvals of grandiose development will provide needed jobs… more than 7,000 building permits are already on the books in the North Kona district alone with potential to start building today if anyone wanted to. Construction jobs aren’t lacking due to too little urban zoned land or County generosity in handing out building permits. In fact, Kona’s economy and infrastructure are helter-skelter at least partly due to a history of poor decision-making by both government leaders and greed-driven investors pushing too much development. That short-sightedness includes rezoning and allocating land for haphazardly-located, unplanned-for, mega-projects, accompanied by false hopes and promises given to construction workers and investors.