At some point, it makes far more practical sense to bury the hatchet and pick up a more constructive tool.

In the case of the bitterly divisive Hawaii Superferry issue, Isle residents should have reached that point.

Further legal salvos still may be fired in the battle over the interisland service and its impacts, but some level of ferry service is almost certain to begin while the required environmental assessment is prepared.

So although the attorneys still might be busy with any final appeals, that leaves the rest of us with energy to spare. The best way to spend the coming months, clearly, is not through protests that can only add up to sound and fury.

Most of the demonstrators have at heart the preservation of Neighbor Islands that they love.

The Superferry was seen as a large and lumbering vessel of change, a tangible symbol of development forces much harder to manage. Paddling or swimming out to blockade a large intruder seemed a straightforward way to communicate outrage.

Done. Message more than received.

It's a cherished part of our civil rights to voice our collective protest, but if the real mission is to be a friend to the environment, it will take more than forming a human barricade or adopting other demonstration dramatics. A productive way to be part of the solution would be to participate in the shaping of an environmentally responsible ferry operation.

This will mean showing up to testify at public meetings to help fill in the blanks: What are the environmental impacts? Some will be unavoidable, but many could be managed with enough advance planning.

Additionally, it will take some collective oversight to monitor how well the conditions of Superferry operations work, and community involvement during this temporary phase of operation will be essential to the final plan.

Finally, lawmakers should start planning now for ways to amend environmental review law to prevent such a disruptive end-game in the future. Adding an administrative appeal of environmental decisions before the judicial option is exercised would be worth considering.

The definitive answer on how well Superferry will fit in the state's transportation network lies a long way off. Whether it can survive the challenges of high operational costs in a climate of rising fuel prices will depend on its ability to settle into a stable marketplace niche.

But it would be a loss to the community if it never gets an adequate chance at success. Hawai'i is a chain of islands. Ideally, travel by sea ought to be one way to keep the state comfortably linked together.