Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 8, 1 ʻAukake 1992 — Kaho'ʻlawe commission's findings due next month [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kaho'ʻlawe commission's findings due next month

by Jeff Clark In the fall of 1990 the U.S. Congress, via Senate Bill 3088, established the five-member Kaho'olawe Island Conveyance Commission. The Commission was charged with study-

ing and recommending the terms of how Kaho'olawe ean be returned from the United States lo the state of Hawai'i and determining how parts of ihe island ean be cleared of nearly half a century's worth of military e.xplosives. At stake is the future of an island whieh occupies a unique plaee in Hawaiian spiritual belief and whose rejuvenation has eome to symbo!ize the rejuvenation of the Hawaiian people.

A draft of the findings and final recommendations to Congress by the Kaho'olawe Island Conveyance Commission will be available to the public in mid-September, according to Velma Santos, the KICC's deputy director. After the findings and recommendations are made public, a series of publie hearings will be held, at whieh time the public's input will be heard

and considered. "Then we will make changes and corrections as appropriate and get (the final report) off to Congress by Dec. 17," said Hardy Spoehr, the KICC's executive assistant. Members of the puhlie had the opportunity to express their mana'o the projected return of the island during puhie hearings held in April and May, 1991.

The public will be able to see the entire final report after it is sent to Congress, Santos said. The Commission was to disband upon delivery of its report to Washington, but its life has been extended until March 31, 1993, said Santos. "This is an election year and (becaiise of) the reorganization of Congress, they won't even look at the report until January or February," she explained. The extension was made so the Commission could follow up on the report and ensure it receives the appropriate attention, she added. The KICC is collecting the results of 17 different studies commissioned by the KICC and conducted on Kaho'olawe over the past year. The continued on page 9

Kaho'olawe commission's recommendations due next month frnm nnt>t> 1

projects range from cultural and historical reports to scientific studies. Santos said the studies produced numerous "very exciting finds, scientifically speaking." At press time, two of the studies were completed: an environmental study and a look at the effects of the military's use of the

island tor target practice. Ballena Systems Corporation, a mainland consulting firm, reported that it won't cost as mueh as expected to elean up the munitions and ordnance left by the military's use of the island. The elean-up is now estimated to cost somewhere between $60 million and $72 million. Spoehr said the esti-

mate is good news because the job had previously heen estimated by the Navy to cost from $300-400 million to $1 hillion. The debris includes ordnance that is unexploded and therefore extremely dangerous. but about 90 percent of the ordnance exploded as it was supposed to, KICC Executive Director H. Rodger Betts estimated. Betts said Kaho'olawe is littered with scrap metal including shrapnel.

rocket motors. rocket fins, and cas-

ings. "It looks like what's left over on a battlefield," he added. The Navy has been clearing the island of such debris for several years, he said. "The ordnance at this stage is not insurmountable in terms of cleaning up the island." Spoehr said. "The publie may be pleasantly surprised at

what the cost of elean-up might be." Santos explained. however, that the operation will not afford unlimited human access. The maximum eleanup envisioned will afford safe access to areas that will be used under the loose classification of "park use," while some areas will be completely fenced off, she said. A total elean-up of all ordnance would require excavation and be impractical as well as

hazardous, Santos said. A full-scale excavation "would destroy some of the features they're trying to preserve, and it would be devastating to the marine e n v i r o n m e n t " because of soil erosion and runoff. Who will foot the hill? "Well, we're trying to get Congress to pay for it," Santos said. An exciting find has resulted from the other completed

report, a study of Kaho'olawe's namral environment by the Nature Conservancy. Santos said scientists found what they think may be a new plant species. A member of the legume family, the plant was found high on a cliff. Researchers sent samples to the mainland for possible identification or perhaps confirmation that the specimen is indeed a newly-dis-covered soecies.

Spoehr said the study of Kaho'olawe's environment revealed that the island is "a diverse ecosystem with diverse species on it" including plants that are candidates for "endangered" status. These include pua pilo (a small shrub, also called maiapilo, having vine-like branches and growing on beaches and lava flows),

pololei (a small native fern) and 'ihi (wood sorrels, perennial woody herbs bearing clover-like leaves and yellow, white, red or pink bell-shaped flowers). Rare animals observed around and on the island include humphaek whales, 'opae'ula (a small, reddish endemic shrimp) and the pueo, or

Hawaiian owl. An astro-archeo-logical study was also conducted. Santos said the study identified a pointed rock located at Pu'umoa'ulanui as a navigational tool. Researchers visited the site during the spring I equinox and were ] scheduled to visit there again sometime near the summer solstice in an

attempt to verify astronomical use, Santos reported. The site had heen mentioned in chants and stories as one that had helped sailors navigate on their voyages south. The study seems to confirm that the rock was "a clear and useful navigational tool for the Polynesians." according to Santos. Other studies are looking at soil erosion. culturally and historically imponant sites, plaee names, the fiis-

tory of the island's missionary school and penal colony eras, its ranching periods, Kaho'olawe ali'i, and legends, oli and mele of Kaho'olawe. "We're in the process of sorting these things out," said Spoehr, who had hoped to have most of the completed reports in hand by mid-July, though the majority were not due until July 31.

But, he added, the Commission is still developing some of the studies. He said the KICC "may get a supplemental grant to do some more work as it relates to the oeean." Santos explained that, in the course of the work being done on the island since last August, "Nothing is being done about fishing, and the island was well-used by fishermen. ... this was a

gap in the information." To fill that gap, the Commission is applying for money from the NaUonal Oeeanie and Atmospheric Administration to study Kaho'olawe's "marine resources as they relate to land resources." Such a study would match ko'a (fishing shrines) with fishing grounds, she explained, and would not be completed until sometime in 1993.

A review committee of cultural experts was formed to aid the Commission. The function of 'Aha Hui Kako'o was to review the historieal and cultural findings of the studies. It was responsible for noting the studies' laek of attention to fishing, Santos said.

What the Commission has learned from the studies confirms that "a lot of the findings are what we already know — the island is historically and culturally important," said Spoehr. Kaho'olawe has great significance in terms of archeology, culture and fishing, he added. The Commission was asked by Congress to address four or five different areas, Spoehr said, but the Commission didn't stop there. The report will contain "10 or 15 different recommendations," Spoehr said. The KICC was directed to identify parts of the island that would be "suitable for restoration to a condition reasonably safe" for humans (to allow park use, the study and preser-

vation of archeological sites, and the preservation of historic sites) and parts of the island restorable to a condition "less than reasonably safe" for humans (to allow soil conservation and plant reforestation and the removal of non-native plants and animals). Though the return of Kaho'olawe is not a certainty established by law, Santos said, "All of our congressional people are very committed to havine

the island returned to the state." The lower estimate on ordnance elean-up won't hurt either, Santos said. "I believe the $72 million price tag will have a beneficial effect." The commissioners are also looking at what form the conveyance might take.

The federal government could return the island either "by deed of some kind or by an enactment of law," Betts said. There are dozens of ways of conveying it contractually and a eouple different ways of doing it legislatively, Betts said. The prohibition of bombing on Kaho'olawe, enacted by Congress when it established the KICC, expires 120 days after the final report is delivered to Congress.

Kaho'olawe, a victim of target practice and a symbol of hope. Photos by Deborah L. Ward

Members of the Kaho'olawe lsland Conveyance Commission eonduct a public hearing at the State Capitol, April 1991. From left, OHA Trustee A. Frenchy DeSoto, Chairman Hannibal M. Tavares, Vice Chairman Dr. Noa Emmett Aiuli, James Kelly.