Tour outfit is fined $2,500

The company carried out illegal
hikes on Manoa Falls Trail

The state fined Magnum Tickets and Tours $2,500 yesterday for repeatedly violating state rules by conducting illegal commercial hiking tours on the popular Manoa Falls Trail.

"We believe this is appropriate and necessary to discourage illegal commercial activity, particularly at Manoa Falls," Paul Conry, Division of Forestry and Wildlife administrator, told the state Board of Land and Natural Resources yesterday.

The mile-long Manoa Falls Trail is popular with tourists because it is relatively easy to hike, close to Waikiki and offers a waterfall at the end.

State rules require commercial tour guides to register their company with the state, limit the number of hikers they take on state trails per day, and pay the state a $5-per-hiker fee.

Magnum did none of these things, Conry said. Since 2000 the company has received three citations and three complaints that it was conducting illegal tours on the Manoa Falls Trail, he said.

Magnum owner Jack Elmaleh argued yesterday that his company should not be responsible because it only sold tickets for the hikes but did not know where they were going. He said his ex-wife Lucia Elmaleh was conducting the tours and that responsibility should rest with her.

"I have nothing to do with it except promoting hiking," Jack Elmaleh said.

Lucia Elmaleh acknowledged she did not have the proper permits.

State Department of Land and Natural Resources staff showed that in pamphlets listing the company's Kalakaua Avenue address, Magnum offered a "Jungle Waterfall Tour" to a waterfall in Manoa Valley for $19.75. Staff also had confirmed the tours by telephone.

Because there is no evidence that Lucia Elmaleh had an independent contract with her ex-husband's business, Magnum is the responsible party, board members said.

Jack Elmaleh has 10 days to contest the board decision, but said he was unsure if he would.

Between April and December, five of the most active permitted tour companies paid the state a total of $21,460 in fees to use Manoa Falls Trail.

A permit for commercial tours costs a $50 one-time fee, and the $5-per-hiker fee is used to help maintain the state's trails, said Curt Cottrell, director of the state Na Ala Hele trails program.

"It's worked really well for the 38 operators that currently operate under the system," he said.