One more time, with feeling: U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono is renewing the call for preservation of a superlative stretch of Maui coastline, what Island residents hope will become the North Shore Heritage Park.

It's a proposal that's been made by Hirono's prececessor in the district, former Rep. Ed Case, but with the new Democratic majority there's hope that this project now can move past Square One.

There has been talk of naming the completed park after the late Congresswoman Patsy Mink, who was born and raised in Pa'ia and championed various environmental causes.

But that's several chapters ahead. The current mission set out in the new legislation, H.R. 2618, is to direct the Secretary of the Interior to study the feasibility of setting aside about 130 acres in the Pa'ia-Spreckelsville area to become part of the National Park System.

The area consists of coastal beaches and wetlands and is an example of a natural sand-dune ecosystem, where turtles nest and monk seals sun themselves on the sparkling white sands. This creates a near-perfect outdoor laboratory for schoolchildren as well as scientists. Its historic resources include the existence of at least three heiau.

But clearly its most startling attribute is the sheer beauty of the unspoiled coastline. And that beauty adds to its vulnerability because it's so attractive to developers.

Maintaining the precarious balance between preservation and development is the ever-present challenge faced by elected leaders. But in a state where preservation of natural beauty is key to sustaining the economy as well as the lifestyle, opportunities to save the legacy should be seized.

It at least makes sense that we study this option, which is why the U.S. House should give Hirono's resolution fair consideration.