Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 7, 1 Iulai 1994 — State seeking pubiic opinion on proposed DHHL land transfer [ARTICLE]

State seeking pubiic opinion on proposed DHHL land transfer

In August, the public will have a ehanee to review and comment on the 16,518 acres of state land Governor John Waihe'e asked the Board of Land and Natural Resources to transfer to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. The transfer plan was announced by the governor in his January 27 state-of-the-state speech. Exact times and locations for the series of informational, open house-type gatherings have not yet been set, but there will be notices in the daily papers on all islands. The review sessions will permit people to see whieh parcels are being considered and to offer their own comments and suggestions. Following puhlie review, the land board will begin its consideration of all parcels. In his January speech, the governor said, "Now is the time to move forward and restore the trust while we have the will and the means." The 1921 Congressional act creating the home lands program stated the trust was comprised of 203,500 acres "more or less," but some 16,000 acres have never been accounted for. Office of State Planning officials say their goal is to make the present Department of Hawaiian Homes Lands inventory reflect what was legislated in the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act in 1921. They stress that this is not a claims settlement like the one presently being negotiated in Washington by state officials and the Department of the Interior. (See story page 1 .) The Washington negotiations involve documented transfers of home lands by the territorial and federal governments. The land involved in the DHHL transfer is an attempt to make the trust the size it was intended to be. The Governor said his instructions to the BLNR are "to turn over good lands for homes, faiTn lots, and ineome generation."