{"id":145790,"date":"2021-08-03T09:00:06","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T19:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=145790"},"modified":"2021-08-03T17:14:00","modified_gmt":"2021-08-04T03:14:00","slug":"maunakea-rangers-warn-public-of-hazards-vehicle-restrictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/08\/03\/maunakea-rangers-warn-public-of-hazards-vehicle-restrictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Maunakea Rangers warn public of hazards, vehicle restrictions to summit"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap-post\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_43672\"  width=\"620\" height=\"349\"  data-origwidth=\"620\" data-origheight=\"349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/J2YvUMNFfgk?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu&rel=0&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"Maunakea Rangers warn public of hazards, vehicle restrictions to summit\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\n<p>Maunakea Rangers of the University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> at Hilo <a href=\"https:\/\/hilo.hawaii.edu\/maunakea\/\">Center for Maunakea Stewardship<\/a> (<abbr>CMS<\/abbr>) are urging the public to exercise caution when visiting the mauna. As visitor arrivals to the islands increase, many are eager to explore <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> but may not be aware of possible risks.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We want to make sure that they are safe to and from the summit,&rdquo; said Maunakea Ranger <strong>DuWayne Waipa<\/strong>. &ldquo;This is one of the responsibilities that was put upon us to protect and m\u0101lama this &#699;\u0101ina, this mountain.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_145794\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-145794\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/hilo-maunakea-rangers-2-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Rangers assisting visitors on Maunakea\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-145794\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/hilo-maunakea-rangers-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/hilo-maunakea-rangers-2-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/hilo-maunakea-rangers-2.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-145794\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rangers assisting visitors on Maunakea<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>One of the dangers, especially on the summit, is that the nearest ambulance team would take at least an hour to arrive. Since 2019, the rangers are responding to about four distress calls a month for everything from altitude sickness to medical emergencies. They are trained first responders and are on duty seven days a week. A minimum of two rangers are on patrol during every 14-hour shift.<\/p>\n<p>In 2018, prior to the pandemic and protests that closed the road, a total of 60,000 vehicles drove up to the summit. In January 2020, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/01\/13\/ige-approves-maunakea-admin-rules\/\">Gov. David Ige approved administrative rules<\/a> for <abbr title=\"东精影业\">东精影业<\/abbr>-managed Maunakea lands that allows the university to address excessive traffic among other things, which included a ban on two wheel drive vehicles above the 9,200-foot elevation. Rangers now have a checkpoint at the area known as Halep\u014dhaku, where visitors&#8217; vehicles are inspected and examined closely. As of May 2021, the rangers have turned around more than 5500 vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We are trying to protect people at this level before even going up and make them understand that this is the risk you take without passing all this and saying, &lsquo;I\u2019m going to be ok,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Waipa.<\/p>\n<p>Drivers with four wheel drive vehicles are also warned about what could be a dangerous 8-mile drive to the summit\u2019s nearly 14,000-ft elevation. More than half of the drive is over largely unpaved roads with steep inclines, blind curves, rocks and no guardrails. According to <abbr>CMS<\/abbr>, anywhere from 6 to 12 accidents have been reported on the road each year, ranging from single car crashes to serious events such as rollovers. Rangers respond to each and every incident including flat tires and vehicle break-downs.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Our rangers are integral in protecting the mauna and everyone that steps foot into this revered place,&rdquo; said <abbr>CMS<\/abbr> Executive Director <strong>Greg Chun<\/strong>. &ldquo;Most are retired firefighters or police officers and bring with them extensive years of experience from their critical roles in public safety.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The rangers also monitor cultural sites easily accessible to visitors to make sure they are not negatively impacted. They serve as ambassadors of Maunakea, reminding visitors to treat the mauna with respect along with answering questions regarding the mountain\u2019s cultural, scientific and natural resources.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/hilo-maunakea-rangers-3.jpg\" alt=\"Rangers and a truck\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-145864\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/hilo-maunakea-rangers-3.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/hilo-maunakea-rangers-3-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/hilo-maunakea-rangers-3-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Administrative rules for <abbr title=\"东精影业\">东精影业<\/abbr>-managed Maunakea lands includes a ban on two wheel drive vehicles above the 9,200-foot elevation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,12],"tags":[659,14,947,56],"class_list":["post-145790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-video","tag-maunakea","tag-uh-hilo","tag-uh-system","tag-video-2","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145790"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145933,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145790\/revisions\/145933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}