Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 4, 1 ʻApelila 1996 — DIVISION CLOSE UP: LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

DIVISION CLOSE UP: LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES

m fUTW>Ē: semwQ HMMIAN ma/d CIAIHS

The future of a Hawaiian nation lies in the land, reclaiming it and using its resources to build a strong and prosperous society. OHA has taken the

leads in this area by commissioning a

comprehensive study of properties that | make up the | n 11 K 1 1 r* lanH

trust. The results of the study will

act as a basis for future Hawaiian land claims. Background When the United States betrayed its treaty relations with the kingdom of Hawai'I, it stole more than a nation. It violated the inherent right of Hawaiian self-determination and it stole nearly two million acres of land belonging to the Hawaiian people. During the centennial

year of the overthrow the American Congress formally apologized and admitted that the former crown and government lands of the Kingdom had been ceded and accepted by the United

States "without the consent of or t compensation to the Hawaiian

K people. Settling thcsc outstanding claims for Hawaiian sovereignty and land is a priority goal of thc !and division.

Guided by the draft "Native Hawaiian Claims

Settlement Act adopted by the Board of Trustees in j

1992, an anticipated resolve < wnuld demandr

1. Thc restoration 1 and recognition of a self-determined Hawaiian government;

2. A comprenensi ve ' transfer of lands, risihts and

moneys from both the state and federal

governments to the recognized Hawaiian government or — if that nation were not in plaee — the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to be held in trust. Additional detail provided by the proposed "Settlement Act" is that resolution of the claims against the state would

require: 1 Thp tranQfpr nf Hawaiian

home iands and the trust assets of j OHA;

2. The additional selection of lands representing 20 percent of the total appraised value of crown and government lands; and 3. The payment of an additional 20 percent revenue for all Hawaiians from the lands

retained by the state. The puhlie trust lands study It is OHA's job to pave the way towards settling these land claims. This has required a great deal of preliminary work, since few specifics were known about the land involved. To help, OHA commissioned PBR Hawai'i — an independent land planning group — to eonduct a thorough study and analysis of the trust lands. The findings of that study are contained in a report entitled "Inventory and Acquisition of Public Trust Lands."

The public trust lands study had tour phases: the first was to identify and

dcvelop OHA s goals and objectives in handling Hawaiian land claims; K the second nhase was devel-

opment of a land acquisition strategy; phase three was

preparation of a complete , inventory of public trust

r tanas; tne tinat pnase — vet to be imDlemented —

is to carry out the land acqui-

sition strategy and select actual parcels to be acquired under the proposed Native Hawaiian Claims Settlement Act. Purpo.se and accomplishments The trust lands study was prepared to test the elements described and needed for settlement.

Identifying and m pvalnatind ihe JP

Hawai'i public Ē

I a n d s 1 m o s t ^ involved in

the settlement process was an enormous.

never-before-attcmpted task. All told, the lands involve ncarlv 1.700 individual parcels.

totaling more than 500,000 acres on all major Hawaiian islands. Their total assessed tax value approaches $7 billion.

The study not only identifies but evaluates all of these lands for potential involvement in the Native Hawaiian

claims, a process that should take plaee over the next several years. The study is a necessary step prelimi- I nary to beginning the claims process. A key feature of the claims is that they are based not so J

mueh on size and location of the land involved as on the 1 land's desienated

use and value. The claims will not 1 involve acquisition of all the land covered in

the study. The lands to be acquired are limited under the Native Hawaiian Claims Settlement Act primarily by value. The use of the land greatly affects that value.

Identified by use and value

To effectively target the Hawaiian claims, it was necessary to identify first, the types of land uses that best serve the

needs of the Hawaiian people, now and in the future, and, second, the mix of land values that will provide the greatest worth, in terms of productive and appreciable assets, for the Hawaiians. Lands that are most desirable • To assist in the identification and valuation of the lands to be acquired, it was first necessary to define the kinds of land most desirable, in terms of its use and therefore practical value to the Hawaiian people. We arrived at four categories. They are: • Lands whieh are suitable for traditional use or have cultural significance; • Lands that produce, or could produce, commercial ineome; • Agricultural and Aquacultural lands, mostly for private use; and • Land suitable for housing development. Our study showed that there are 700 land parcels in the County of Honolulu, 260 parcels in the County of Maui, 422 parcels in the Countv of Hawai'i, and 279

parcels in the County of Kaua'i that fall into at least one of the study's four land use categories. Zeroing in There are a number of important decisions still to be made, but one of the most important is sorting through the thou-

Neuiu.N ui leiiiu iu ue Luiioiueieu and arriving at a list of those to be

acquired. Fortunately, by developing certain criteria, this ean

be done electronically % onee the basic prop-

| erty list and selection I standards are fed into

a computer program. With the list in hand, <t ct5inHiirHc ie

JV1VV11V/1I JIUUUU1UJ 1U critical. The study suggests the best criteria for eaeh category of land to be selected.

What's Next? The Public Lands Acquisition Study was an imnnrlant nrpliminarv stp.n tnwarH

reclaiming the ceded lands due the people of Hawai'i for more than a century.

OHA is now working sharing these findings and

I UUUIIIMie liuai 1UIIN as well as thc many othcr

sieps ncccssary to ^ carryVk ing out

the

ae t u a I claims proce-

dure. If you, your eom-

munity, club or organization BF w o u I d like a presentation on ' these issues, eall OHA at 594-1983 or 594-1938.

ABOUT THE MAPS: Shown are the Puhlie and Private Lands on O'ahu, Moloka'i, Maui, Hawai'i and Kaua'i.)

As part of the lands acquisition strategy report, PBR developed maps of the Hawaiian Islands to identify the federal and state puhlie lands, Hawaiian Home Lands, and the holdings of the private Hawaiian trusts. Coded and eolored by an artist, plans to sell copies of these maps are being explored. A future issue of Ka Wai Ola O OHA will announee their availability.