Study Proposed To Make Lahaina A National Heritage Area
A bicameral bill from Sen. Hirono and Rep. Tokuda awaits President Biden’s signature.
The August 2023 wildfires that devastated Lahaina, Maui, may lead to it becoming a National Heritage Area designation.
This month the U.S. House and Senate passed the . If signed into law by President Joe Biden, the act calls for a study to weigh the suitability and feasibility of the idea.
National Heritage Areas are places where historic, cultural, and natural resources “combine to form cohesive, nationally important landscapes,” the National Park Service. “Unlike national parks, National Heritage Areas are large lived-in landscapes.”
The NPS oversees 62 heritage areas, none of which are in Hawai鈥榠.
My bill w/ to study designating Lahaina as a National Heritage Area is headed to to be signed into law!
— Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono)
There are 62 National Heritage Areas nationwide, none of which are in Hawaii. It is fitting that Lahaina is under consideration to be one of our first.
The act was introduced by Hawai鈥榠 Sen. Mazie Hirono and House Rep. Jill Tokuda and co-sponsored by Rep. Ed Case.
Hirono said in a press release that the fires “shed light on how special this town is, not only to the Maui community, but also to 贬补飞补颈驶颈 and the country.”
The historic, natural and cultural resources found in Lahaina, she added, “tell a nationally significant story” and the bill will help ensure that story can continue “to be told and appreciated for generations to come.”
Tokuda said the act is about “grounding Lahaina’s rebirth and rebuilding” in the history, culture and tradition of the ahupua驶a (land division) that was once the capital of the Kingdom of 贬补飞补颈驶颈.
If approved, the legislation would direct the NPS to work in coordination with Maui County and other state and local partners.
The first National Heritage Area, Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Area, was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1984.
