A stunning limestone cave in Hawaii has been forced to close after its billionaire owner blocked grants to continue funding it.
Makauwahi Cave Reserve, located on Kauai’s south shore, has been a popular tourist destination since paleoecologist David Burney and his wife, Lida Burney, founded a nonprofit nature park on its site in 2004.
The two had transformed it from an abandoned, graffiti-ridden site to a thriving oasis with more than 10,000 native and Polynesian plants around the cave while giving tours to up to 80,000 visitors each year. according to the Puerta de San Francisco.
But at the end of October, the Burneys announced had to sell the preserve after its owner, Grove Farm, blocked a $2.3 million grant for conservation initiatives from the Defense Preparedness and Environmental Protection Initiative Challenge program, as well as a $260,000 state grant. dollars.
The land management company, owned by billionaire Stephen Case, co-founder and former CEO of AOL, had said it did not want any “encumbrances” on the property after personnel changes and after converting the lease to monthly for the year. past. .
Makauwahi Cave Reserve has been a popular tourist destination since paleoecologist David Burney and his wife, Lida Burney, founded a nonprofit nature park on its site in 2004.
“The closure is financial,” Burney told the Gate. “We just can’t run this place without being able to get grants.”
He noted that he and his wife were able to keep the Cave Reserve open for nearly a year by expanding two pre-existing grants from the Hawaii Tourism Authority and the Pacific Birds and Habitat Joint Venture.
They also had to use some small donations and work with a skeleton staff to keep it working.
“It takes more than that to pay staff to provide tours for 200 or more people a day, while maintaining the bathrooms, the native plant nursery, and more than 10,000 native and Polynesian plants moved to abandoned quarries and farmland around of the cave,” Lida explained.
“All the money is already spent and as people in their 70s we can’t afford to dip into our personal savings to support it while Grove Farm decides what to do with the place.”
Her husband added: “It’s sad for Lida and me to have to give up after 33 years of working here, but it’s time, we want to push this canoe out to sea and see who can paddle.”
Stephen Case, co-founder and former CEO of AOL, owns Grove Farm, the land management company that owns the cave property.
The company said it did not want any “encumbrances” on the property following personnel changes and after converting the lease to monthly last year.
The Burneys have since rehomed their 1,000-pound tortoises and given away thousands of potted native plants as they plan to hand over the property.
The paleoecologist noted that Grove Farm has not told them what it plans to do with the property and that is why “after appreciating this place, studying it in detail, publishing a lot about it and interpreting it for more than a million visitors since we opened, I was very concerned about what would happen next.
“What worries us most is that the place is now abandoned,” he said.
But a Grove Farm spokesperson said their “intention is to continue preserving this important resource,” noting that the land management company “has formed a nonprofit organization, which will oversee the cave to continue providing access to educational groups (including school groups). , scientific and cultural research.
“We have reached out to current teachers to continue their exceptional experience,” the spokesperson told the San Francisco Gate.
“The tenant chose to terminate the lease contract that had a month-to-month term since 2019 at no cost,” he added.
David Burney (pictured) and his wife were able to keep the Cave Reserve open for nearly a year by expanding two pre-existing grants from the Hawaii Tourism Authority and the Pacific Birds and Habitat Joint Venture.
A spokesperson for Grove Farm told San Francisco Gate that it will continue to provide educational opportunities.
Kaui resident Elizabeth Okinaka, who has worked as a teacher for more than two years, said she will ask to be involved in any future plans Grove Farm has for the property.
“Places like Makauwahi Cave Reserve are like no other,” he said. ‘Visitors leave there with a lot of knowledge and more respect for the island, and that is what we need for tourism in Hawaii.
“There has to be a balance, and it’s a huge loss,” Okinaka added. “Hundreds of visitors are educated every day.”
He went on to say that if it had not been for the dedication of the Burneys, the cave would have been destroyed long ago.
‘Everyone should be grateful for the work that Burney and Lida have done, also people like Pila Kikuchi and Kapaka, who were founding members of the reserve and dedicated some of the last years of their lives there.
“Ultimately, I’m sad that it had to end this way,” Okinaka concluded.
“It is my hope that Dr. Burney’s legacy will be honored if the cave is operated upon again in the future,” he said.