The Department of Land and Natural Resources tonight will hold its second informational meeting on a proposal to restrict access to portions of the 'Ahihi-Kina'u Natural Area Reserve.

The agency proposes to leave the restrictions in place for two years while trails are established and marked, educational signs installed, and baseline measurements taken to quantify damages that may occur after the areas reopen.

DLNR chairwoman Laura H. Thielen said in a news release that the Maui reserve, on the south coast adjacent to La Perouse Bay in Makena, is not meant to provide recreation but is set aside for preservation "so that its unique and sensitive resources can exist without the threat of impacts. The reserve is also used for important research so that future generations may learn from Hawai'i in its natural and unaltered state."

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. today in the Lokelani Intermediate School cafeteria, 1401 Liloa Drive.