Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 9, 1 September 2006 — Hoʻi hou: The return of native lands on Molokaʻi [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hoʻi hou: The return of native lands on Molokaʻi

Cūlette Y. Machadū TrustEE, Mūlūka'i and Lāna'i

In January 2004, 1 decided to sit at the table with members of the Moloka'i community and Moloka'i Properties Ltd. to work on the Community-Based Master Land Use Plan for Moloka'i Ranch. I looked upon this as a process to end 30 years of battles with Moloka'i Ranch. Beginning in the 1970s, I have worked tirelessly against various extravagant development schemes of Moloka'i Ranch to develop the West End of Moloka'i and use millions of gallons of the island's precious and sole water resource. These schemes have included: • A 375 room hotel on Kaiaka Rock • A 150 Unit Condominium at Kawākiu • The Highlands Golf Course and clubhouse at Nā'iwa • The Waiola Well and Pipeline The Ranch set itself apart from the rest of us on Moloka'i and selfishly sought to develop all of its lands no matter how it would impact the island and her people. We fought the Ranch at every step In 2003, there was a turnover in the ownership and top management of the Ranch's parent company, Brierley International Ltd.. This led to the assignment of new and enlightened management for Moloka'i Ranch, headed by CEO Peter Nicholas. Mr. Nicholas sought out eommunity leaders to help plan the future for Moloka'i Ranch lands. Many of us were skeptical at first. But, after countless community meetings, long hours of impassioned debate, critical thinking and soul searching over two and a half years, the Ranch agreed to give back significant Native Hawaiian legacy lands to the community; permanently protect agricultural lands; pro-

vide lands for community housing; and reopen Kaluako'i Hotel. Any future development will be limited to the expansion of the hotel and golf course and 200 2-acre residential lots along the southwest shore of the island. Here is the breakdown of the future ownership and management of Moloka'i Ranch's 65,000 acres: • 26,000 acres will be donated to a Moloka'i Land Trust for the eommunity. • 24,950 acres are placed into protective easements for agriculture and open space managed by the Moloka'i Land Trust. • 10,000 acres will be owned and managed by Moloka'i Properties Limited. What is most significant for the Native Hawaiian community throughout all of our islands is the donation of premier legacy lands to the community. These include: • The ancient burial ground in the sand dunes at Kawa'aloa Bay. This is one of the most famous and largest burial grounds in all of the islands. At one time, the Ranch allowed the mining of sand here and disturbed the burials. The Ranch also planned to develop a resort here. Now these sacred grounds will be permanently protected under the Land Trust. • Ka'ana, the birthplace of the hula that originated on Moloka'i and spread to other islands. This sacred site will never be destroyed or commercialized. • Nā'iwa, the only traditional makahiki grounds that remain intact in the islands. This extensive area was onee threatened by the development of a golf course. It will now be protected forever. • Village sites at Kawākiu, whieh would be destroyed under current zoning in the Moloka'i Community Plan, will now be permanently protected. • Burial mounds at Kawela, whieh at one time were threatened by development, will be protected under the Land Trust. • Key subsistence fishing grounds from Keonelele to 'īlio Point and from Pāla'au over to Hale O Lono, including Halena and Kolo. • The historic Pāka'a house sites, upland sweet potato gardens and eonnecting trails. • Kaiaka Rock, whieh was saved

from development. • Kamāka'ipō Gulch will be eonserved. Despite the clear benefits of the overall Community-Based Master Use Plan for current and future generations of Moloka'i, members of the community have focused solely on the plan for the one last development on Moloka'i Ranch Lands outside the resort area. Through the community planning process, aside from reopening Kaluako'i Hotel and allowing for some expansion of its operations and golf course, Moloka'i Ranch will be allowed ONE LAST DEVELOPMENT of 200 2-acre lots. The house lots will be developed along the coastline immediately north and east of Lā'au Point, but set back at least 250 feet from the high-water mark or designated shoreline. In many areas, the setback is as mueh as 1,000 feet. To protect the marine resources in the near-shore area, the coastline will continue to be accessible by foot along an established pathway. The community is also concerned about the water plan to support the development near Lā'au Point. The Ranch plans to refit its water system so that all potable water will be piped to homes and the hotel for domestic uses. The golf course and lawns will only use recycled or brackish water. The Ranch proposes to pump an additional 1 million gallons a day of brackish water out of the sole aquifer under the East Moloka'i mountains at Kākalahale. I ean truthfully say that most everyone involved in the planning process with the Ranch does not want to develop the coastal area north and east of Lā'au Point. Most fear that the development will expose the subsistence marine resources to over-harvest-ing. Nevertheless, the majority of the community members involved in the planning process reluctantly agreed to include the limited development plan as a key pieee in the overall plan. It was not an easy decision to make. Consider the following: • In return for the permanent protection of 55,000 acres from development and real estate speculation, 200 residential houses will be built on 400 acres of land. Lot covenants, conditions and restrictions will limit water use,

minimize land disturbance, prevent pollution of the oeean through pesticides and fertilizers, and minimize visual impact. This is managed and controlled growth. • The Moloka'i Land Trust will hold fee title to 26,000 acres and manage an additional 24,950 acres under protective easements. Revenue for the Land Trust will eome from existing eommunications tower rents of $250,000 a year and from a share of eome from the sale of lots in the residential development. This is community empowerment. • Moloka'i Ranch will continue as a viable business that employs 150 Moloka'i residents. The Kaluako'i Hotel will employ another 100 Moloka'i residents and create opportunities for small businesses when it reopens. This will provide viable eeonomie stability. In the final analysis, we had to ask ourselves if it is realistic to expect that Brierley International - a global corporation with headquarters in Singapore, being registered in Bermuda and owning a major hotel ehain in England - will eonhnue to operate the Moloka'i Ranch operations at a loss and not seek to develop its property. NO. And therefore, it is amazing that this corporation is willing to turn over 55,000 acres to the community to own and manage in return for ONE LAST DEVELOPMENT, not just in our lifetime, but forever. I think that we must also be mindful of what we wish for. All those on Moloka'i who do not want this one last development to go through should really think about the alternative. BIL regularly receives offers to sell off its lands in parcels. BIL could very easily sell off the lands of Moloka'i Ranch rather than donate them to the eommunity. In this scenario, the community would be facing not just one last development, but several developments that will not empower the community, will not protect the subsistence resources nor provide stability for the economy. This may not be a perfect plan, but it is a reasonable and balanced plan that enables the Moloka'i community to manage premier legacy lands on the island, control growth and speculation and monitor the one last development on Moloka'i Ranch lands. S

LEO 'ELELE • TRUSTEE M ESSAGES