Regardless of who dumped it, the landowner is responsible for cleaning it up and is liable for any environmental damage it causes. Herds get mixed up when a gate is left open allowing cattle to wander out of their pastures, and it can take all five ranch cowboys a full day of work to sort them out and put them back. It's a problem for all businesses whose lands encompass forests, streams and mountain areas, but none more so than East Maui Irrigation, whose scenic trails and remote waterfalls are pinpointed by guidebooks. Hew said employees have helped with many rescues, many of them at night. A good example is dirt bikers who like to ride in pineapple fields, said Maui Pineapple Haliimaile plantation manager Doug MacCluer.
Motorcycles carve ruts and intensify erosion in dirt roads used by harvesters.
They tear up the plastic sheeting used to protect the growing pineapples. Neighbors complain about the dust and noise, and Maui Pineapple has to take responsibility, MacCluer said. But they also destroy endangered plant species when they use the fields to gain access to gulches that border the fields. Hikers can cause the same problem by tracking in weeds, said Avery Chumbley, president of Wailuku Agribusiness and state senator for the East Maui-North Kauai district. Now when you go back there you see a lot of lantana and invasive weeds, all things people have tracked in.