Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 10, 1 ʻOkakopa 2005 — PUTTING HAWAIIAN LANDS IN HAWAIIAN HANDS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PUTTING HAWAIIAN LANDS IN HAWAIIAN HANDS

By Sterling Kini Weng Publicatiūns Editor For two decades, Hawai'i island's Wao Kele o Puna, the state's last unprotected large lowland native rainforest, was the center of a bitter dispute over geothermal drilling and Native Hawaiian gathering rights. The controversy surrounding the 25,856-acre rainforest was marked by emohonal protests, arrests and years of litigation. Now, a conservation agreement announced last month could bring about a peaceful resolution to the dispute and plaee the forest back into Hawaiian hands. The agreement, whieh was

made possible by a partnership between the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the state Department of Land and Natural ...

Resources, the federal Forest Service's Forest Legacy program, the nonprofit Trust for Puhlie Land and the property's current owner, Campbell Estate, would pave the way forWao Kele o Puna to heeome OHA's first major land acquisition and ensure that the vast forest area is protected from development. "We took a stand for this land two decades ago in the courts and have never given up the fight to find a pennanent way to protect this forest," said Pele Defense Fund President Palikapu Dedman, who was among the dozens of people arrested f o r

protesting geothermal drilling in the late 1980s. "We are looking forward to working with OHA and [the state] to keep this forest healthy and thriving. It's our responsibility as mueh as it is our right to mālama this plaee that means so mueh to our community." "The āina is the foundation of our culture," said OHA Chair Haunani Apoliona. "Our ability to protect such a rich and symbolic resource means that future generations in Hawai'i will benefit from our eolleetive vision and foresight in protecting traditional

lands and resources." Under the terms of the plan, OHA would contribute $250,000 to an already secured $3.4 million in federal Forest Legacy funds to purchase the property from Campbell Estate, whieh is selling the site at a discounted price. The Trust for Puhlie Land (TPL) would acquire the land next year and later transfer the property to OHA. The agency would then hold the property until it could convey the land to the yet-to-be-created Hawaiian governing entity. Until that time, OHA and the DLNR will work together to manage Wao Kele o Puna.

OHA is already committed to spending up to $228,000 a year to manage the forest and has also agreed to work

MĀLAMA 'ĀINA • CARING FDR ĪHE LANŪ

Wao Kele o Puna Area: Two parcels comprising 25,856 acres. Habitat: Lowlanel native rainforest, primarily 'ōhi'a. Key species: Plants ineluele hāpu'u fern, 'ie'ie vine, hala, kōpiko anel many other rarer species; birds include 'io (Hawaiian hawk), pe'ape'a (Hawaiian bat), 'apapane and 'amakihi honeycreepers, and possibly 'ō'ū, a finch-like honeycreeper that is feared extinct, although many believe still exists within the forest. Zoning: Conservation Cultural importance: Gathering resource for traditional Hawaiian practices, seen by practitioners as a kinolau, or physical form, of deities. Ownership: Originally crown and government lands of the Hawaiian kingdom, "ceded" to the U.S. at annexation and transferred to state government at statehood. Declared a Natural Area Reserve by the state in 1 981 , but then transferred to Campbell Estate in a land swap to facilitate geothermal development that was later abandoned.

Opponenh of geothermal drilling join hands in a 1 990 protest at Wao Kele o Puna. Photo: G. Brad Lewis

with the state to plug a geothermal well located on the property, an undertaking that could cost between $400,000 and $1.5 million. Regardless of the cost, most agree that protecting Wao Kele o Puna is vital. The rainforest provides habitat for more than 200 native Hawaiian plant

and animal species, including several that are listed as threatened or endangered. In addition, the area, located near Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, is eonsidered a critical seed bank for the regrowth of native forests that have been covered by lava flows. The forest also contributes more than 20 percent of

the water in the Pāhoa aquifer, the single largest drinking water source on Hawai'i island. Wao Kele o Puna is also important to Native Hawaiian families who have for centuries consistently used the property for traditional hunting, gathering and religious practices. "This rare ecosystem eom-

prises the last intact lowland native forest of its kind," DLNR Chair Peter Young said. "The benefit [of the agreement] is going beyond the transfer of this land to OHA. In partnering with OHA, DLNR will assist in reinvigorating the Native Hawaiian communities' capacity to manage land." E3

Evūlutiūn of a solution Īhe dispute over Wao Kele o Puna started in the 1980s, when the state was exploring geothermal energy, whieh uses natural steam from wells drilled into volcanoes to generate electricity, as an alternative to oil. In 1987, the state transferred Wao Kele o Puna, a portion of whieh it had already designated as a Natural Area Reserve, to Campbell Estate to develop geothermal power plants. The plan, however, was met with strong resistance from environmentalist and members of the Native Hawaiian eommunity, who saw the drilling as a desecration of the volcano goddess Pele's form. The Pele Defense Fund, led by Native Hawaiians from Puna, took the state and Campbell Estate to court over the project. The group ehallenged whether the state could give up control of ceded lands such as Wao Kele o Puna and argued that private landowners have to provide access on undeveloped land for traditional Native Hawaiian practices. The estate subsequently determined that geothermal mining in the forest would be unprofitable. The property has lain idle since, and because the estate is set to dissolve by Ianuary 2007, it put the forest up for sale. The Pele Defense Fund learned about the sale and solicited help from TPL to acquire the property. Palikapu Dedman, the fund's president, said that for Hawaiians the conservation agreement is a weleome respite from the court rulings that have gone against their programs and institutions in recent months. "I hope the future has more of these kind of wins," he said. "We found eonunon ground, whieh was the love of Hawai'i. So we got that as our motive to mo ve forward."

MĀLAMA 'ĀINA • CARING FDR ĪHE LANŪ

The 'apapane honeycreeper (top) and 'io (Hawaiian hawk) are among Wao Kele o Puna's surviving native species. Photos: JackJeffrey