Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 1 March 1983 — CANCELLATION OF ILLEGAL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CANCELLATION OF ILLEGAL

"Recommendation Impacts on Over 30,000 acres of DHHL Lands" The Federal State Task Force on the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act recently completed a Preliminary Draft Report on its findings after seven months of tedious work. The report contains ninety-two recommendations whieh are intended to better implement the purpose of the Hawaiian Homes Program. Nearly sixty recommendations address the Department of Hawaiian Homes Land (DHHL) inventory, management and losses of land due to illegal land transfers. The report's findings reveal that over 30,000 acres of the Department's lands have been illegally set aside by the executive branches of the Territorial and State Governmentsfor purposes unauthorized by the Hawaiian Homes Act. Governor's executive orders account for nearly 13,000 acres and Governor Proclamations over 16,000 acres. These lands were generally set aside for public purposes such as parks, schools, public transportation facilities and for other governmental use. The Department has not received any form of compensation for these valuable lands and the native beneficiaries have, ineffect "losf'their use. The Department under former DHHL Chairperson Billie Beamer, had tried unsuccessfully to get compensation from the State of Hawaii for these lands and eontested the compensation issue in the General Lyman Airport suit with favorable results. However, the State has repeatedly failed to address the issue of compensation beyond the General Lyman area. In its findings and recommendations, the Task Force

requests Governor Ariyoshi to rescind 34 Executive Orders and 9 Proclamations within 60 days. The report strongly recommends that the Department repossess these lands if the State fails to make proper arrangements to continue present use. This means that the State must make "reasonable progress" within a year to pay the Department some form of compensation, either through rental payments or land exchanges.

Governor Ariyoshi's reaction to the report, according to the Honolulu Advertiser, was "We have indicated we want to take a look at it and see what we ean do to work it out. The Task Force should eome back in one year and see what has been done." The Task Force was jointly established by the Governor of the State of Hawaii and the U.S. Secretary of the lnterior. lt was seen as an appropriate administrative

20 acres of Hawaiian Home Lands were illegally set aside by a 1950 executive order for Kaupo Beach Park in Waimanalo (foreground). Another executive order took Hawaiian Home Lands for an easement to Makai Pier shown above.