This unique structure that is not like any other in the world. We the people think a $10 fee ($5parking $5 for climbing) would not be an unreasonable amount to pay for Legal access to this National Treasure  (maybe a Kamaina rate for locals). The 3,922-step stairs in Ha'ku Valley were repaired in 2002 at a cost of $875,000 to the city  and they are paying for guards to keep people out that would be glad to pay.   Don't let it go to waste if this were to happen, it would be like removing the U.S.S. Arizona from Pearl Harbor,or blocking access to Diamondhead. The stairs are an important World War II historic landmark. Haiku Stairs is NOT part of the national register of historic places, which would protect it from it's destruction, and yet it is eligable to be included into such register! The only reason all this is happening is there are some "affluent" people that live nearby that dont want to be bothered with hikers whom they are now trying to use as an excuse to keep it closed saying they are hiking illegally when if they wer'nt
blocking the reopening this  would not be an issue. Please don't put up signs to keep us out and keep  Mother Nature in. On top of all that is the vast historical signifigance.
 It was installed in 1943 to enable the construction of antenna cables that would be strung from one side of the cliffs above Ha%u02BBik%u016B Valley to the other. A building to provide a continuous communication link between Wahiaw%u0101 and Ha%u02BBik%u016B Valley Naval Radio Station was also constructed at the very peak of Pu%u02BBukeahiakahoe, elevation at about 2,800 feet (850 m). These extraordinary antennae transmitted very low frequency radio signals from a 200,000-watt Alexanderson alternator located in the center of Ha%u02BBik%u016B valley. The signals could reach US Navy submarines as far away as Tokyo Bay even while the submarines remained underwater. 

A popular history of the construction of Ha%u02BBik%u016B Stairs is contained in Woodbury, David Builders for Battle chapter XXIII, E P Hutton & Company Inc., New York, 1946.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAGdM0HN9Gg

When the Naval base was decommissioned in the 1950s, the United States Coast Guard used the site for an Omega Navigation System station. In the early 1950s, the wooden stairs were replaced by sections of metal steps and ramps %u2014 by one count, 3,922 steps

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Please Contact  Senator Inouye @
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Fax: 808-541-2549

The Honorable Neil Abercrombie

Governor, State of Hawai`i

Executive Chambers, 
State Capitol

Honolulu, Hawai`i 96813

Phone: 808-586-0034

Fax: 808-586-0006