Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 12, 1 December 1992 — KICC wants Kahoʻolawe returned unconditionally [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

KICC wants Kahoʻolawe returned unconditionally

by Jeff Clark The Kaho'olawe Island Conveyance Commission (KICC) is recommending that the island of Kaho'olawe be returned to Hawai'i with no strings attached and that the federal govemment be responsible for cleaning up the residue of half a century of military target practice. According to the Commission, Kaho'olawe should "be retumed to the state of Hawai'i, without conditions and reverter (retum), in as expeditious a manner as possible, for the practice of Hawaiian culture and for educational purposes; and that the federal government be responsible for the clearance and removal of unexploded ordnance and related solid waste and any hazardous or toxic waste, should it be found; and that the island be restored to a condition reasonably safe for human habitation and human use." This was the position stated by the KICC in its Summary Report of Proposed Findings and Recommendations for the retum of Kaho'olawe from the federal government to the state. During statewide hearings held in October, testifiers told KICC that the

federal government should retain possession of Kaho'olawe until after its elean-up, and that conditions should be placed on the island's conveyance to the state of Hawai'i. Many also said the island should be given to the Hawaiian people to use as a cultural sanctuary. The report says the island's eonveyance should be accomplished by special legislation, and that: • "the United States shall bear all costs and liability for, and take responsibility to perform, the clearanee and removal of unexploded ordnanee and related solid waste. ..." • The U.S. will also begin the island's restoration by providing funding for soil conservation and erosion abatement (including revegetation and reforestation, archeological/historical site stabilization, restoration and interpretation; and the removal and/or destruction of nonnative plants and animals). • Access to the island will remain controlled and supervised, and access by the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana (PKO) will continue. • All military use of Kaho'olawe shall cease.

KICC Chair Hannibal Tavares said the Commission would revise its report and try to submit it to Congress by Dec. 17, its original deadline, although the Commission has been granted an extension. Congress will probably address the report in March or April, Tavares said. He advised the loeal community to track and eomment on federal and state legislation regarding the conveyance. "There's a trail ahead of us - it's a steep one - but we've had steep trails before," he added. The Commission found that "the entire island" is suitable for human habitation (including uses such as parks, archeological study and preservation, and historic preservation), and for restoration (including soil conservation, reforestation, and eradication of non-native plants and animals). The report identifies PKO as the entity best suited to perform the restoration, with technical assistance to eome from the U.S. Navy, the federal Soil Conservation Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey, along with the Nature Conservancy, the Tmst for Public Lands, and the state

of Hawai'i. The report also recommends that PKO be represented on an oversight commission that would be established to ensure eomplianee with the conveyance and KICC's other recommendations. Most of the speakers at the Oct. 21 hearing in Wailuku said PKO should have an even greater role. "The Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana's involvement in the future of Kaho'olawe needs (to be) ensured more than it is in the report right continued on page 3

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now," said Hokulani Holt Padilla. "There is no one entity that has, with no money, no support, done more for Kaho'olawe than the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana." PKO spokesperson Davianna Pomaika'i McGregor told the Commission at its Oct. 27 O'ahu hearing that the Commission's final report should also contain "a section whieh would explicitly recognize the ongoing role of the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana as steward of the island." McGregor said PKO supports the Commission's major proposed findings and recommendations but suggested they be made conditions of the transfer of title to the state.

"We support proposed legislation whieh would set Kaho'olawe aside for cultural preservation under a speeial land use management provision of the Hawai'i Revised Statutes. However, we believe that conditions to a transfer of title would provide for a more permanent protection of the island beyond the current state administration," McGregor said. "The 'Ohana is concerned that in 10, 15, or 20 years, after the island is cleaned up, a future state administration may find the island attractive for certain kinds of development. It would be easier to amend the Hawai'i Revised Statutes than it would be to change conditions of a transfer of title." Other testifiers also stated that eonditions should be placed on the eonveyance, and that the island should not be conveyed until after it is cleaned up. Onee Kaho'olawe is out of federal hands. federal liability for its elean-up

Photo by Anne Landgraf would be difficult to enforce, and the state cannot be trusted to ensure there will be no commercial use of the island. many of the Maui testifiers said. Kaho'olawe should remain under federal control until it is totally restored, said the Sierra Club's Mary Evanson. And KICC should take steps now to ensure there is no future abuse of the island, Evanson said, adding that the development of the other Hawaiian islands constitutes worse abuse than what Kaho'olawe suffered from bombs and goats. The island should be a "native Hawaiian cultural sanctuary," part of a sovereign nation's land base, she said. If Kaho'olawe is retumed to the state, a guarantee of protection must be written into the conveying legislation, said PKO's Margo Berdeshevsky.

Bill Smith said, "An unconditional conveyance to the state would not protect Kaho'olawe from future abuse." He also said federal jurisdiction should continue during elean-up, but should be transferred from the Navy to a different federal agency, such as the National Park Service. Also advocating the plaeemeni of conditions on the conveyance, Henry Hildebrand said that the state, through adverse possession and other such means, "has made thievery legal." Hildebrand held up a copy of Land and Power in Hawai'i and said, "Don't let Kaho'olawe be the next chapter in this book." The Office of Hawaiian Affairs agreed with the Commission's report on the subject of conditions. In testimony read by OHA government relations consultant Donald Scott

KICC recommends that the federal government elean up all remaining ordnance. such as this shell casina. after returnina Kaho'olawe.