{"id":2514,"date":"2026-07-12T04:38:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T04:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2514"},"modified":"2026-07-12T04:38:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T04:38:33","slug":"molokai-activists-celebrate-kalaupapa-tour-pause-future-still-uncertain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2514","title":{"rendered":"Molokai activists celebrate Kalaupapa tour pause; future still uncertain"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Activists protesting the reopening of hiking tours to Kalaupapa were met with an unexpected development Saturday morning: no visitors arrived.<\/p>\n

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The National Park Service (NPS) confirmed it has temporarily paused future public tours to the historic peninsula while it reassesses the feasibility of visitor access.<\/p>\n

The decision came just days after more than 30 Molokai residents gathered to oppose the restart of tours to Kalaupapa, where thousands of people with Hansen\u2019s disease, also known as leprosy, were forcibly isolated from 1866 to 1969.<\/p>\n

Members of the activist group Kuno Ia Kalaupapa returned to the top of the trail Saturday expecting to continue their demonstrations.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cIt was a big shock to us,\u201d said longtime activist Walter Ritte. \u201cNobody knew that nobody was going to show up. We were ready to do our thing and try to convince them to talk before you bring in tourists to Kalaupapa.\u201d<\/p>\n

The park service launched its new hiking tour program Thursday, marking the first organized visitor access to the peninsula in years. The reopening quickly drew criticism from some Molokai residents and cultural practitioners who said the tours moved forward without sufficient community consultation.<\/p>\n

Maui County council member Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, who joined Thursday\u2019s protest, called the temporary pause a positive first step.<\/p>\n

\u201cNPS pausing its operations is the first step toward repairing its relationship with our Molokai community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Still, activists say significant questions remain about the future of the program and whether local residents will be included in decisions moving forward.<\/p>\n

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In a statement, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) said Kalaupapa is \u201can extraordinary place\u201d and that any visitor program should respect the patient legacy, Native Hawaiian interests, Molokai residents and the department\u2019s responsibilities as a landowner.<\/p>\n

The agency added that continued discussions should address issues including visitor management, community impacts, emergency response coordination and how Kalaupapa\u2019s history is interpreted for the public.<\/p>\n

Rawlins-Fernandez also raised concerns about whether enough consultation occurred before the tours resumed, despite DHHL determining that the agency\u2019s beneficiary consultation policy was not violated.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe can disagree about that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For activists, the temporary halt is being viewed as an opportunity for broader discussions about the future of Kalaupapa and the role tourism should play there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe future of Molokai needs to be talked about,\u201d Ritte said. \u201cThey play a role in that future. They can\u2019t just be a neighbor that doesn\u2019t care what impacts they\u2019re having on the island.\u201d<\/p>\n

The National Park Service has not said how long the pause will last.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know what temporary means,\u201d Rawlins-Fernandez said. \u201cWe don\u2019t know if it\u2019s just today\u2019s tour or how long this temporary pause is going to last, and whether community consultation will happen before tours restart.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a brief statement, the National Park Service said it has paused future public tours while it reassesses the feasibility of visitor access but provided no additional details on a timeline for resuming the program.<\/p>\n

Read more First Alert Forecast: Trade Wind Weather Weekend<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National Park Service confirmed it has temporarily paused future public tours to the historic peninsula while it reassesses the feasibility of visitor access.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nMolokai activists celebrate Kalaupapa tour pause; future still uncertain - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2514\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Molokai activists celebrate Kalaupapa tour pause; 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