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OVER 3,000 SIGNATURES GATHERED FOR SAVING PUNALU`U
December 22, 2006
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PETITIONS TO BE DELIVERED TO PLANNING DEPT. FRIDAY, DEC. 22
-- Petitions will be Presented as Comments on the DEIS
-- Nearly One Third of Signatures from Ka`u
-- Petition Drive to Continue

On Friday, Dec. 22 Ka`u Preservation will be delivering to the Hawaii County Planning Dept. an impressive stack of signed petitions that total 3027 signatures in support of protecting Punalu`u as a "Living Classroom" and to stop the proposed Sea Mountain Development. Nearly one third of the signatures come from Ka`u.

The Petition states that "the County and State of Hawaii, Hawaiian Agencies and Federal Government work together with the citizens of Ka`u to acquire all of the 434 acres so that Punalu`u will be preserved forever as a “Living Classroom,” and as a protected resource for all families, fishermen and cultural practitioners in Hawai`i and the millions of visitors to Punalu`u from around the world." Over 800 business owners, long time residents and educators from the Ka`u District signed the petition, along with over 1,500 from the island of Hawai`i alone.


Petitions will be Presented as Comments on the DEIS
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 Ka`u Preservation will be presenting the petitions as part of their comments on the Developer's Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The deadline for making comments is Dec. 22, 2006.

According to Pele Hanoa, President of Ka`u Preservation, "The thousands of signatures we have collected in Ka`u and throughout Hawai`i speak for themselves. It is clear that a majority of people in Ka`u and Hawaii want to see Punalu`u protected as a living classroom and are against the Sea Mountain Development. We will continue our petition drive and these numbers will continue to grow and continue to demonstrate that residents in Ka`u -- including local educators, business owners and long time residents who were born and raised in Ka`u do not want Punalu`u turned into a housing development for the wealthy and believe there are better ways to create better jobs for Ka`u residents. If you combine this with the hundreds of letters and emails that have poured into the Hawaii County Planning Dept. asking the county of Hawaii and the Mayor to protect Punalu`u and stop the development -- the message is clear, the people have spoken -- SAVE PUNALU`U! "

Download and Print Petition


Nearly One Third of Signatures from Ka`u
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 With a population of around 5,000 residents, nearly one sixth have signed the petition to save Punalu`u. The 832 signatures from Ka`u represents a large portion of the population that rely on Punalu`u as an important gathering place, fishing grounds and cultural resource.

Many long time residents and Hawaiian families from Ka`u signed the petition that was circulated by volunteers throughout the district. "This represents a turning point in our efforts to save Punalu`u. Now the Mayor and the Planning Department will hear the many voices of the thousands of people in Ka`u and in Hawai`i that love Punalu`u and want these sacred lands protected," says Earl Louis, Vice President of Ka`u Preservation.

Learn more about the sacred lands of Punalu`u


Petition Drive to Continue
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 According to Jim Spielman, Petition Coordinator for Ka`u Preservation, "This is merely where we are as of today. This is not the end of our efforts to convince all the powers to be to stop this development and save both the turtles and Punalu’u Beach from great harm. I am particularly grateful to Rachel Garmen, Merrilee Barnes, and Bill Savage for their endless hours of typing to help create a database to keep the petition count accurate. We also want to thank everyone who spent time gathering the petitions at so many different sites and all the signers who made this huge statement possible. Finally, I want to encourage everyone to continue to gather petitions as we will be submitting additional signatures in the weeks to come."

Learn more about Ka`u Preservation's to protect Punalu`u



Contact Information
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phone: (808) 928-8144
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