Located on Maui and named for the island’s highest volcanic peak, Haleakalā National Park is a natural gem of more than 30,000 acres stretching from the Pacific shoreline to the volcano’s rim more than 10,000 feet above.

From the park’s low-elevation rainforests — filled with waterfalls and rushing streams — to the summit’s high volcanic deserts, you can pass through as many ecological zones on a trip from the shore to the crater’s rim as you would on a trip from Mexico to Canada.

With 80% of the park designated as wilderness, Haleakalā provides habitat for some of Hawaii’s rarest plant and animal life and is home to more endangered species than any other National Park Service (NPS) unit. These include the silversword, a rare plant found only in Hawaii; the nene, a native Hawaiian goose; and the Hawaiian petrel, a seabird that nests in colonies at the summit of the volcano.

Our Role

With all the park’s biological riches, it’s no wonder that the NPS was eager to acquire its largest inholding — private property located within park boundaries: a 4,100-acre ranch stretching from the ocean to the crater’s rim. When the property’s owner, James Campbell, died in 2006, the NPS approached us to buy his ranch and hold it until federal funds became available to add the land to the park. We acquired the land from Campbell’s estate for $3 million, and held it until 2008, when funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund were appropriated to transfer the property from The Conservation Fund to the NPS.

Why This Project Matters

The Campbell ranch was the largest undeveloped, privately owned parcel within Haleakalā. Acquiring it added almost a mile of Pacific Ocean frontage within the park’s boundaries and opened 4,100 acres to the public for the first time in more than a century. Significant portions of the former ranch are located within the Kahikunui Forest Reserve, which includes remnants of the biologically diverse koa forest ecosystem that once dominated the island of Maui. The reserve provides critical habitat for endangered po’ouli birds and Maui parrotbills. The lower elevations have intact, dry wiliwili forests that provide habitat for endangered Blackburn’s sphinx moths and Hawaiian hoary bats.