Associated Press - Maui County is taking ownership of one of the last undeveloped shoreline parcels of a once famous and vast network of wetlands and fishponds between the mouths of Waiehu and 'Iao Streams.
The Trust for Public Land said a public-private partnership made the nearly $1 million purchase of 64 acres along Kaehu Bay possible.
The property is home to numerous Hawaiian cultural sites, including agricultural terraces, former fishponds, shrines and burials.
The trust said in a statement Wednesday the coastal wetlands are potential future habitat for endangered Hawaiian waterbirds such as the aeo (Hawaiian stilt).
Last year the Maui County Council had authorized paying up to $1.7 million for the land. But the trust advised the county to delay buying after the property was put in foreclosure.
