A House panel will debate legislation establishing Hawaii’s first national heritage area at a site on Maui that was devastated last year by the deadliest wildfire in modern U.S. history.
H.R. 8219, sponsored by Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), would direct the National Park Service to study the feasibility of designating the town of Lahaina on the northwest coast of Maui as a national heritage area.
Tokuda’s bill is the highlight of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands hearing Thursday that will consider five other mostly bipartisan bills.
The Maui fire in August 2023 burned much of Lahaina, killing at least 101 people, burning thousands of buildings and displacing more than 12,000 people. A national heritage designation would unlock federal funding “to help rehabilitate important sites,” according to Tokuda’s office.