Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 3, 1 March 2002 — Considerations for land committee outlined [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Considerations for land committee outlined

Early last year, the Land Committee began discussions on the development of a land acquisition policy, as land and water have cultural, political and eeonomie significance for bettering the conditions of Hawaiians, ,An. initial working draft prepared by admmistrative staff highlighted the following important considerations: Fundamental Lanā Acquisition Issues to be addressed 1, How does the acquisition of land by OHA better the conditions of Hawaiians? 2, What criteria will guide the implementation of land acquisition? 3, What purposes would justify OHA's purchase of land? a, Is the purchase of land for the purpose of "land banking" with a lower financial return, a sound and permissible strategy (as compared to historical returns for stock equity investments)? b, Is the purchase of land for

agricultural, housing, and/or eommercial purposes a sound and permissible strategy? e, Is the purchase of land for cultural purposes a sound and permissible strategy? d, Is the purchase of land to build a base for eeonomie development and/or political self-determi-nation a sound and permissible strategy? Criteria to be established for the reasonable return on investment for potential categories of land Potential categories (by rationale of purchase): a, Land banking purchases b, Agricultural, housing and/or commercial use purchases e, Preservation and protection of traditional and cultural site purchases d, Exercise of traditional and customary Hawaiian rights purchases e, Purchases to establish and advance self-determination efforts for Hawaiians

f, Purchases of land as an investment to increase financial value of the trust Strategies for Land Acquisition Federal Legislation a, Seek federal legislation to give a Hawaiian agency the right of first refusal upon de-accession of ceded lands used by the military b, Seek federal legislation for a settlement on ceded lands set aside for federal use e, Seek federal legislation for reparations for loss of sovereignty of the Hawaiian kingdom State Legislation a, Seek legislation to fulfill the Trust provisions of the Constitution and Chapter 10, Litigation and Negotiation a, Determination and identification of ceded land

Purchase land independently or in tandem with other Hawaiian agencies and Ali'i Trusts for a, Historical preservation/cultural use b, Agriculture use e, Commercial use d, Residential use While all of this is preliminary, the adoption of a land acquisition policy is now driven by OHA's Strategic plan regarding Land and Housing: uBy 2003, OHA shall have increased the percentage of its investment in real estate by no less than 15 percent and shall develop strategies to enhanee the use of these assets to benefit the Native Hawaiian peopleL īn the ensuing months, this unfinished pieee of work will be the first order of business for the newly organized OHA Committee on Land, ■

Donald Cataluna L/i^lee,, Kaua'i and Ni'ihau