Maui land trust gets $1M
to preserve slice of coastThe 277-acre parcel of shoreline
is home to endangered species
WAILUKU >> Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa authorized a $1 million grant Tuesday toward the purchase of a 277-acre shoreline area at the old Waihee Dairy for preservation.
The money will be go to the Maui Coastal Land Trust, a nonprofit group that acquires and protects coastal lands.
The trust has agreed to buy the parcel from Japanese-based Waihee Oceanfront Hawaii Inc. for $4.8 million.
The coastal land, 10 minutes north of Wailuku on the northern side of the county's municipal golf course, has 1 1/2 miles of shoreline dunes and a wetlands area frequented by endangered species, including Hawaiian stilts and coots and the Blackburn sphinx moth.
The money, taken out of the county's fiscal 2003-04 capital improvement budget, is in addition to $1 million anticipated from the county's new Open Space Preservation Fund and will be matched by $2 million from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the trust said.
The trust has started a capital campaign to raise the remaining $800,000 and an additional $1.2 million as an endowment fund.
Trust officials said they will be working with the community to develop a preservation plan.
"We look forward to working with the community as we move forward in our planning and preservation efforts," said trust President Tom Blackburn-Rodriguez.
Donations to the fund can be mailed to Maui Coastal Land Trust at P.O. Box 965, Wailuku, HI 96753, or by calling 244-5263. Potential donors interested in seeing the site should contact the land trust for scheduled visits.
