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NPS
Contact: Dominic cardea, 808-572-4450 The National Park Service (NPS) today announced that the moratorium of commercial downhill bicycle rides in Haleakala National Park will continue pending a full evaluation of all impacts from the activity in the park’s Commercial Services Plan (CSP). The National Park Service also released the findings of the Board of Review commissioned to evaluate the safety of the bicycle tour operations. “The stand down remains in effect,” said Haleakala National Park Superintendent Marilyn H. Parris, “and I have met with representatives of the five bicycle companies that held downhill tour permits in the park to discuss this decision.” The five bicycle tour companies will be authorized to conduct van tours within the park under a Commercial Use Authorization while the NPS completes the Commercial Services Plan. The stand down, originally implemented October 10, 2007, following a bicycle tour client fatality within the park, called for a professional safety analysis to be followed by a Board of Review. “The Board of Review found that the in-park commercially guided downhill bicycle tours, as managed prior to October 10, 2007, posed an unacceptably high risk to park visitors,” said Superintendent Parris. The Board, whose members included National Park Service professionals and an ex officio member from the County of Maui, suggested that additional management and operational changes to the tours might mitigate risk to park visitors to an acceptable level and it directed the park to research the suggested changes and determine whether they could realistically be applied. “My staff has completed the report recommended by the Board of Review and has determined that the suggested changes go beyond just safety issues and will affect a number of other visitor uses and park management practices at the park,” Parris added. “Consistent with NPS policy and applicable legal authorities, the park must evaluate these impacts in order to determine their impacts upon the operations, resources and values of the park. The CSP process is the best tool to do this.” The Commercial Services Plan is a public process used to determine the future of all commercial services in the park and how they will be managed. A CSP typically looks at what commercial activities are “necessary and/or appropriate for public use and enjoyment” in accordance with NPS management policies of the park. “This decision to move the safety mitigations into the CSP means we will need to allow for more public input.” The Safety Analysis Report, the Board of Review report, the park findings, as well as the Superintendent’s “Decision on Implementation of Board of Review Findings and Recommendations Concerning Safety Analysis of Commercially Guided Downhill Bicycle Tours at Haleakala National Park” are available at https://www.nps.gov/hale/parkmgmt/bikesafety. ##NPS## |
Last updated: February 28, 2015