Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 11, 1 Nowemapa 2004 — OHA hopes to add Hawaiian perspective to state's Ocean Resources Management Plan [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]
OHA hopes to add Hawaiian perspective to state's Ocean Resources Management Plan
In recent months, OHA's Native Rights, Land and Culture (NRLC) division has enacted an effort toward gathering Native Hawaiian resource management skills and knowledge that might be incorporated into the Hawai'i Oeean Resources Management Plan. The Hawai'i Oeean Resources Management Plan is a statewide plan designed to direct all state agencies in management policies and practices for the oeean and coastal regions. Originally published in 1991, the oeean management plan was adopted by the state Legislature as policy in 1995. While the plan has overcome years of preparation, its implementation has been hindered by fiscal shortfalls as well as the laek of cooperation among agencies. Most notably missing from the plan was any mention of Native Hawaiian resource management knowledge or practices. Efforts to redo the ORMP were underway via a "2004 Summit-to-Sea Conference," scheduled for December. The conference, eosponsored by OHA and the state
Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Program, would allow stakeholders the opportunity to rework the ORMP, making it into a living document with a functional implementation strategy. The conference will allow Native Hawaiian oeean and coastal values and resource management knowledge to be incorporated into every panel discussion, and ultimately, the entire ORMP. To identify Native Hawaiian values and practices, "community eonversations" were held on every island where community members were asked to identify important oeean management concerns in their area. These "community eonversations" included a representative from OHA's NRLC Division, the CZM and the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs. On Sept. 24, 2004, OHA's Heidi Guth and the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs' Leimana Damate met with community members on Moloka'i. A group of 11 concerned citizens voiced concerns ranging from enforcement implementation to property taxes. Most discussion revolved around
reinstating the konohiki system, or a management system based on individual ahupua'a. Community members felt that empowering loeal communities to manage their own areas using methods handed down from generation to generation would be the best way to address the different needs associated with different areas. Additional suggestions involved incorporating a kūpuna eouneil to oversee state empowered konohiki. Mana'e resident Alapa'i Hanapī stated, "Native rights will work on Moloka'i because there are enough Hawaiians here who still know and use traditional skills, uses and values." When asked about concerns with enforcement of management systems Hanapī replied, "when Hawaiians try to enforce what is pono and righteous, they end up on the wrong side of bars." "On Moloka'i people still live in ahupua'a," offered Wilma Kamakana Grambusch, "because of this, Moloka'i should be considered a cultural preserve." Other participants stated that regulations should be island by island, ahupua'a by ahupua'a whieh is why community
based management is the best. Ms. Grambusch also shared concerns about the difficulty kuleana land owners along the shore have with paying property taxes. She asked OHA to incorporate a tax eap for Native Hawaiians who have ancestral lands. "It's very sad when people sell their land and kuleana because there is a disconnection between future generations from the mana of past generations." NR will try to incorporate this suggestion into OHA's legislative package for the next session. At the printing date of this artiele, OHA received word that the Governor's office will be postponing the Hawai'i Summit-to-Sea Conference to sometime between April and June of 2005. In the interim, OHA is considering co-sponsoring a symposium with CZM that would involve other Hawaiian community groups whieh may already be implementing pilot projects like the land konohiki system. Look for updates on the symposium in upcoming issues of the Ka Wai Ola. ■
Colette Machado Trustee , Moloka'i and Lāna'i