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Posted: Sunday, November 29th, 2009 7:38 AM HST

Maui creates state's largest conservation easement

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — A Maui landowner is promising that 12,000 acres of pasture and forest on the slopes of Haleakala volcano will never be developed. About two-thirds of Pardee Erdman's Ulupalakua Ranch will be set aside in the hills above Wailea and Kihei, creating the single largest conservation easement in the state. The property includes acres of rare native trees, including sandalwood. The Maui Coastal Land Trust will monitor the property to make sure the land is preserved in perpetuity. The agreement finalized Saturday quadruples the area under the trust's organization's management. Currently, the state's largest conservation easement is the Puu Kukui Watershed Preserve, also on Maui, which is 8,304 acres. Maui Land & Pineapple set aside this land in 1992. (Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved)