While vacationing on Kauaʻi, Jennifer Reber of Utah fell on a popular hiking trail in Waimea Canyon State Park. A metal spike protruding from the middle of the trail impaled her right thigh, she alleged in a legal claim against the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources. 

Now state taxpayers are poised to pay $450,000 to settle a civil complaint in which Reber seeks compensation for medical costs and lost wages resulting from the May 2021 injury on the heavily trafficked and moderately easy 3-mile trail to Waipoʻo Falls. A separate injury involving a different hiker at a scenic lookout in the same park in June 2023 could cost taxpayers an additional $100,000.

The tentative settlements with DLNR illustrate the fiscal consequences of backlogged maintenance on Hawaiʻi’s hiking trails and scenic walkways. They’re among 23 claims against state agencies totaling $6.6 million that the Attorney General’s Office has recommended the Legislature approve paying this year. 

DLNR spokesman Dan Dennison declined to comment for this story, citing ongoing litigation while the settlements await legislative approval. 

The appropriation bill needs to clear one more committee before it can advance to a final vote by the full Senate and then conference negotiations with the House in April. The Senate Ways and Means Committee will hold its public decision-making hearing on the bill Tuesday.

In court filings, DLNR denied the accusations in the Reber case. First responders rescued Reber from the Waipoʻo Falls hiking trail, according to the civil complaint, and transported her to a local hospital for treatment. She later underwent reconstructive surgery and physical therapy in Utah.

Honolulu lawyer John Yamane, who represents Reber, said the nearly half-million dollar settlement is fair given the evidence uncovered during discovery, a pre-trial process in which both sides of a legal case gather and share evidence. The metal rebar that punctured Reber’s leg had been installed to reinforce a wooden step that had completely rotted or eroded away, exposing the metal hazard, Yamane said.

“When we took the deposition of the DLNR people, they admitted to knowing about it,” Yamane said. “They knew about it and they, No. 1, failed to warn people, and, No. 2, failed to remedy the situation.”

Reber has since recovered from the injury but has a large scar, Yamane said.

Slippery Lookout

In a separate complaint, Kentucky resident Brenda Osmer alleges she fell and fractured her femur in June 2023 on a steel diamond plate covering a small drainage ditch on the walkway to the Waimea Canyon scenic lookout.

Court documents indicate two witnesses made a statement that after a light rainfall — before Osmer fell and fractured her leg — another person fell in the same area of the scenic lookout. Osmer was taken by ambulance to Wilcox Medical Center in Lihu‘e, where she underwent surgery to repair the fracture. 

After the incident, DLNR coated the steel plate with a paint and sand mixture and anti-slip tape to make it less slippery, according to testimony on the claims bill.

Osmer’s husband Robert also claims he suffered emotional distress. 

Honolulu lawyer Ian Scott Mattoch, who represents the Osmers, did not respond to requests for comment.

State lawmakers will take up the $100,000 settlement for the Osmer case next week as part of the overall claims bill.

Hawaiʻi’s state hiking trail system encompasses 855 miles of trails and access roads. State recreation officials have said it’s difficult to keep up with routine hiking trail maintenance in part due to heavy use by hordes of tourists and remote, sometimes difficult-to-access terrain.