Big Island blogger Damon Tucker got an unexpected Christmas message last week–a short missive from attorney Robert K. Whitt of Midland, Texas, demanding retraction of any and all “derogatory comments or blogs” regarding his client, C.L. Carlile Enterprises, L.P.

And just who is this Carlile Enterprises?

It’s involved in real estate, oil and gas back in Texas, and is owned by Cleo Carlile, who splits time between the big TX and Hawaii. Carlile Enterprises also owns several pieces of former sugar land along the Hamakua Coast of the Big Island, and is the landowner offering the “Umauma Experience”, as well as owner of the zipline facilities there, including platforms, cables, rain shelters, and a new building for a kitchen and gift shop.

If you’re not familiar with the whole zipline idea, it’s simple–string steel cables across various expanses and then send visitors zipping down across the open abyss while hanging on a pulley suspended below the line. The higher and longer the run, the more adrenaline the ride delivers. These offer relatively low-overhead business opportunities in Hawaii, where wild mountain gulches, waterfalls, and jungles offer the scenic surrounds desired by visitors and residents alike.

What apparently drew Whitt’s ire, and that of his client, was Damon’s pretty straightforward blog post on December 8, in which he reported that he had been contacted by zip tour operator KapohoKine Adventures, which was cancelling Damon’s reservations for the Umauma zipline.

Damon quoted several company representatives, including company co-owners Gary Marrow and Tony Delellis, regarding their safety concerns, including allegedly substandard and rusting cables, that prompted the firm to discontinue operations at the Umauma site.

Damon quoted a message from Delellis:

Aloha Damon! I know that my office called you as did Gary. I am so sorry that we can’t accommodate you on the zip. I loved operating the zip, and learned a lot in the process. But one thing that I didn’t have to learn was that safety, just like on my land tours, trumps all. We discovered that the owner of The Umauma Experience installed substandard cable on the course and it started to fail…It has worn down from round to flat and then the tension broke the cable as it became too thin. I immediately closed down lines 1, 2, and 4. The owner will replace the cable that guests ride on, but has refused to replace the guy wires which hold the whole thing up, platforms etc.

Tough talk, but on the record from a knowledgable source. And just the idea that there are differences of opinion among zipline operators over safety standards seems clearly of public interest and concern.

The post includes close up photos of the cables.

Attorney Whitt demands removal of the entry, as well as a written retraction sent to every person who may have been within earshot of these statements.

Attorney Whitt also provided an official-looking “Certificate of Inspection” issued by “Zipline Canopy Creations” and signed by “Julianne Lester”, apparently certifying that the ziplines have recently passed a “safety inspection”.

According to state business registration records, Lester is the registered agent for Kauai-based Zipline Canopy Creations, which was registered to do business in August 2010, and the president of Just Live, Inc., a recreation company also based on Kauai.

Just what Lester’s qualifications for inspecting potential safety issues such as those identified at Carlile’s Unauma site aren’t clear. A quick search yesterday left me with the impression that zipline engineering and safety are largely unregulated by the state or counties, beyond the need to get routine building permits, so the status of this “certificate of inspection” is seems questionable.

During a January 2010 public hearing on a building permit for the kitchen and gift-shop building, Kapohokine Adventure’s owners were big fans of the Unauma zipline, but that has obviously changed over the past year.

Mr. Carlile and his company may have a beef with his former business partners, but it seems to me that his Texas attorney is off-base for this ill-considered attack on a local blogger.

Damon reported the dispute over safety issues in a straightforward and responsible manner. This was not a story that he was reporting, but a direct consumer experience he shared via his blog. And it happens to involve matters of public health and safety, and should have alerted the mainstream media to potential safety and regulatory issues in this relatively new recreational sport. There are obviously more sides to the story which need to be covered, but Damon deserves credit for flagging the issues and sharing them.

Damon says he doesn’t intend to retract his post. I agree that he shouldn’t give in to this kind of overly broad, unsupported legal threat.