Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 8, 1 August 2006 — Reclaiming the Aina [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]
Reclaiming the Aina
ŪHA cIdses cūnservatiūn land purchases, becūmes majūr landhūlder
By Derek Ferrar and Sterling Kini Weng f • finalizing two historic land conservation deals in late II |T |1 1 lune and mid-July, OHA has now acquired final title I iUI to Waimea Valley on 0'ahu's North Shore and the Wao Kele o Puna rainforest on Hawai'i island, ensuring that both sites will be permanently preserved from development. With the two acquisitions, OHA, whieh owned no major property previously, now ranks among the top landholders in Hawai'i, with a land inventory nearly as large as the island of Kaho 'olawe. Those involved with the acquisitions said that OHA's emergence as a major landowner marks an important moment in Hawai'i's history, with Hawaiians beginning to regain control over culturally significant lands. Both properties are being held by OHA with the intention of eventually
transferring them, along with other Hawaiian assets, to a future Native Hawaiian governing body (see story on page 10). "Opportunities to grow the assets of the Native Hawaiian people as well as the oversight of ancestral land and natural resources are 'gifted moments," said OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona. "I congratulate the trustees of our OHA board for joining with our partners to seize this moment by demonstrating leadership that reminds our native and nonnative conununity that despite disagreements of the past, reconciliation and healing ean occur one opportunity at a time." Waimea protected from theme-park developer The sequence of events that led to OHA's acquisition of Waimea Valley, whieh in ancient times was home to a powerful line of kahuna nui, or high priests, began after New York theme-park developer Christian
Wolffer, who purchased Waimea in 1996, placed the property in bankruptcy in 2001, after unsuccessfully trying to sell it as a luxury private residence. To prevent the valley from being developed, the city moved to acquire it by condemnation and placed $5.1 million into escrow for the purchase. Wolffer soon filed suit against the condemnation proceeding, claiming that the property was worth as mueh as $19 million. Wolffer's suit crawled through the courts until a trial date was finally set for last February, at whieh a jury would have decided what the fair condemnation price should be. But in November, Mayor Mufi Hannemann, saying he was worried that the final price might be more than the city could afford, negotiated at a secret settlement offer that would have split the valley up and returned most of it to Wolffer. On Dec. 7, however, the city eouneil rejected Hannemann's settlement deal after hearing unanimous outcry against it from conununity members. Following the council's action, OHA and several other agencies stepped in to purchase the property, and Wolffer eventually agreed to a $14-million offer to settle his lawsuit against the city. In addition to the funds the city originally placed in escrow to pay for the valley, the remainder of the purchase price was shared by OHA ($2.9 million), the U.S. Army ($3.5 million), the state Department of Land and Natural Resources ($1.6 million), and the Nahonal Audubon Society ($1 million, advanced by OHA pending lease negotiation). It was agreed that OHA would assume title to the property. On June 30, the complex deal finally closed, and OHA heeame the offieial landowner of the valley, ensuring that what many describe as 0'ahu's
last intact ahupua'a will be permanently protected from development. Denise Antolini, a coordinator for the Save Waimea Valley Coalition, praised OHA's acquisition of the valley as "a landmark first step in the agency's future as a land manager and steward. It's a perfect opportunity to 'get it right' and show everyone in Hawai'i that putting Hawaiian lands in Hawaiian hands is successful for the entire community." Audubon lease under negotiation A number of issues remain to be settled at Waimea, most notably the National Audubon Society's lease to run its nature center in the valley. While the city had originally granted Audubon a 30-year lease to manage the valley, that agreement was terminated in the condemnation proceedings. For now, OHA has issued a temporary lease to Audubon while the details of a longer-term arrangement are being negotiated. OHA Administrator Nāmu'o said that while Audubon would probably want to have a long-term lease of at least 20 years, OHA's trustees would probably prefer a shorterterm arrangement to begin with, after whieh the relationship could be evaluated and possibly extended for a longer period. Wao Kele purchase marks first return of ceded lands Observers agree that one of the most significant aspects of OHA's acquisition of Hawai'i island's Wao Kele o Puna, the last intact large native lowland rainforest in the state, is that it marks the first time that ceded lands have been returned to a representative of the Hawaiian people. In addition,
it comes as weleome news to activists who labored for several decades to save the forest from geothennal energy development. "It's been a long struggle to protect our forest and Native Hawaiians' rights to gather for subsistence and to worship there," said Dr. Noa Enunett Aluli, vice president of the Pele Defense Fund. "We honor this forest as the reahn of Pele and her family of deities and the 'aumākua of the Puna families who rest there. Mahalo to all who participated and supported this prolonged effort." The Trust for Puhlie Land, a nahonal nonprofit land conservation organization with an office in Honolulu, negotiated the deal for the property and purchased it from the Estate of James Campbell, and then conveyed the land to OHA. Many other partners also eame together to the make the purchase possible, including the Pele Defense Fund, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the U.S. Forest Service and Department of Agriculture. Funding for the purchase eame from the federal Forest Legacy Program, funded by a $3.35 million congressional appropriation championed by Hawai'i Sen. Daniel Inouye. "I am pleased to have played a role in securing federal funds for the protection of this special tract of land," said Inouye, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Conunittee. "Clean water, native forest habitat, and the perpetuation of Hawai'i's native culture for future generations will be the enduring legacy of this incredible purchase." The dispute over Wao Kele started in the 1980s, when the state was See 'ĀINA on page 18
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Cūntinued fram page 15 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 to Campbell Estate to develop geothermal power plants. The plan, however, was met with strong resistance from environmentalists and members of the Native Hawaiian community. 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 January 2007, it put the forest up for sale. The Pele Defense Fund learned about the sale and solicited help form TPL to acquire the property. Palikapu Dedman, the Fund's president, said that OHA's acquisition of the forest is a weleome respite from the recent barrage of political and legal attacks against Hawaiian programs and institutions. "I hope the future has more of these kind of wins," Dedman said. "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."