New class of officers to lead enforcement of tourist fees

Forty-one new state conservation officers will help lead the crackdown on tourists who ignore visitor fees for Hawaii’s most popular state beaches and trails.

The fees would offset harm to the environment and pay for maintenance and restoration.

The new members of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) began work Monday and represent the agency’s largest recruiting class ever.

DOCARE is expected to be the lead agency to enforce the proposed expansion of “green fees” being debated in the state Legislature.

The fees are already in limited use at state parks, most notably at the popular Diamond Head State Monument.

Gov. Josh Green originally proposed requiring every tourist above the age of 12 to pay $50 to use state parks and trails. The Legislature seems more interested in a “license” only to visitors who want to access an unspecified number of unnamed state parks and trails.

The idea of charging fees for tourists to visit state beaches appears unpractical because of their multiple access points.

DOCARE officers likely will lead the effort to enforce violations but could be assisted by county police and state sheriff’s deputies.

The newest class of DOCARE officers was sworn in Friday at Leeward Community College.

Including the new recruiting class, DOCARE now has 95 officers.

“To the visitor mindset, Hawai‘i’s natural resources are elements of paradise — clear ocean waters, sandy beaches, warm sun, tropical fish — but to residents with ties to this place, it means a lot more, it’s our identity,” DOCARE Lt. Carlton Helm, who led the DOCARE academy, told the recruits Friday, according to a statement from DLNR. “Without the resources, little by little, we start to lose that identity. CREOs (Conservation and Resources Enforcement officers) are committed to our communities and to protecting our resources.”

The newly commissioned officers are now in their field- training phase working along­side veteran officers at their assigned branches: 14 on Oahu, 14 on Hawaii island, seven on Maui and six on Kauai.

“I’m greatly appreciative for the kuleana that these men and women have accepted,” DLNR Chair Dawn Chang said to the recruits at their commission ceremony Friday, according to DLNR’s statement. “I welcome them to the DLNR ohana.”