Please join and sign the petition today!
The plan must be approved by the Council for the City and County of Honolulu before it becomes law. We are asking Councilmembers to reject the “purple spot” and protect agricultural lands throughout the Wai‘anae Coast.
Become a spot remover! You can sign this petition to tell Councilmembers NO to more loss of precious rural agricultural lands! And NO to government that serves wealthy developers over the interests of local families and communities!
You can learn more and sign the petition at: http://tiny.cc/purplespotpetition
View, download and share the informational fact sheet here: http://tiny.cc/purplespotinfo
Mahalo to EVERYONE who came out to make their voice heard on proposed changes to rules governing conservation and coastal lands in Hawai`i.
On relatively short notice, nearly 700 individuals and 34 organizations representing thousands more put down their name to tell the Lingle Administration and DLNR, “Hey, not so fast!” on these proposed rules rollbacks.
As you know, the proposed rollbacks affect over 2 million acres of lands, 51% of the “ceded” lands trust, as well as all public trust waters, reefs and ocean in Hawai’i nei.
Now, a new version of the proposed rules has just been released. Thanks to you — and your attendance at the hearings, your written comments, and your letters to the editor — we are at least seeing a final draft of the proposed rules with more than six days’ notice. (Six days is all that is required!) MAHALO!!!
It looks like the final rules will be heard and voted on by the Land Board in November (either Nov. 12th or 22nd). You can find the final draft of the rules and a general letter from Sam Lemmo here: http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/occl/documents-forms/proposed-13-5-amendments
We are continuing to analyze this final draft, but on first read, it looks like many of the most dangerous proposals have been taken out. This would not have been possible without so many coming to the table to take collective action in defense of conservation lands in Hawai’i nei.
That said, there is still work to be done! We continue to have serious concerns about some of the rollbacks being proposed and strongly believe that the process for these rule changes has been improperly rushed. It is important that we continue to make our voices heard.
As soon as we know the date and time of the hearing, we’ll let you know.
What can you do in the mean time? Please tell your family and friends about this issue and ask them to click-and-send testimony to the Land Board.
More resources:
- Action Page on the KAHEA website – http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2699/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4660
- Great piece in the Honolulu Weekly by Rob Parsons – Read “DLNRn’t“
- Op-ed in the Star-Advertiser by Jon Osorio and Vicky Holt-Takamine – Read Op-ed
- Fact Sheet: http://tiny.cc/conservationlands
If you’ve ever been witness to a bulldozer in a wahi pana, or seen a poorly planned and damaging development, you know why these kinds of protections are so important! Please take the time to ask your friends and family to stand with you in defense of our conservation districts. Mahalo for making a difference for Hawai’i nei!
]]>The time has come. Time to send in your written comments on the overhaul of our conservation district regulations. In the waning days of the Lingle Administration, DLNR is proposing major changes to the rules protecting Hawai’i's conservation districts.
We know these kinds of regulatory changes aren’t super exciting, but if you’ve ever seen a bulldozer in a wahi pana, you know why these decisions are so important. Take action right now and help to protect the places you love throughout the Hawaiian Islands.
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Hearings officer Sam Lemmo, the administrator for OCCL, made a point of assuring the room that the final regulations would definitely be different from what we are seeing tonight based on all of the great input they had been getting. (Did you just feel that gentle pat on the top of your head? I did.)
We pressed Sam on when we might actually see the final regulations. Generally speaking, the agenda for the Board of Land and Natural Resources is posted a mere six-days before the Board decides an issue. Will we only get six days to review the final version of the rules that are supposed to be protecting our conservation lands for at least the next 15 years?
In response, Sam chuckled and said “good question.” The audience laughed. I laughed, too — because what do you do when someone laughs in your face? Despite all the laughter it was a sad moment.
It is sad when regulations as important as these are given but the bare minimum of study and public process. We are talking about 2 million acres of conservation lands — our watersheds, nearshore waters… the important places. Conservation lands are 51% of the crown and government lands that are supposed to be held in the “ceded” lands trust for Native Hawaiians and the people of Hawaii — we have an obligation to protect these assets.
From what I hear from the old-timers, when these rules were changed 15 years ago, there was a public blue ribbon panel convened to advise the division on improving the regulations. Today, DLNR is unilaterally proposing major revisions. What gives? Where is the expert panel? The thoughtful study? The reasoned assessment?
In response to my quote on the need for “a blue ribbon panel” in the Star-Advertiser on Thursday, several insiders came forward at the hearing to thank Sam for DLNR’s history of work on these rule changes that were, in their words, “a long-time coming.” So long in coming, in fact, that the public just heard about them. These rules saw the first light of day in July and are expected to be approved before December. Coincidentally, that’s right before the Lingle Administration leaves office. Feels more like a 50-yard dash than a “long-time coming” to me.
Both in and out of public hearings, we have heard Sam say, at least 20 times (no exaggeration, I seriously counted), “Good question, that wasn’t what I intended” in response to questions and concerns about the staff’s proposed changes. I don’t know about you guys, but if what I write down isn’t what I meant to say, its usually because I was in a rush and didn’t take the time to think about the implications… welll… that kind of pondering is exactly what we need right now.
Good changes, bad changes, the bottom line is these changes need more thought. We should not let the timeline for the end of an administration drive the schedule for amending some of the most important protections in our islands.
Want to feel like you were there? Here is a link to notes from the Honolulu public hearing on August 12, 2010.
Want to participate in the process? Sign up for KAHEA’s action alert network, later this week we’ll send out an easy-to-use comment form by email.
We’re liking this thought-proving post from journalist Anne Minard, on the “next great telescope race”–Day 14 of her “100 Days of Science.” She asks some great questions about the fundamental purpose of the two U.S. proposals for “next generation” giant land-based telescopes being proposed for construction within the next 10 years. Do we really need THIS much telescope, guys?
Charles Alcock, director of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, acknowledged that the two telescopes are headed toward redundancy. The main differences, he said, are in the engineering.
He said the next generation of telescopes is crucial for forward progress in 21st Century astronomy.
“The goal is to start discovering and characterizing planets that might harbor life,” he said. “It’s very clear that we’re going to need the next generation of telescopes to do that.”
And far from being a competition, the real race is to contribute to science, said Charles Blue, a TMT spokesman.
“All next generation observatories would really like to be up and running as soon as possible to meet the scientific demand,” he said.
But when I asked him why the United States teams haven’t pooled their expertise to build a single next-generation telescope, Blue declined to comment.
In all, there are actually three teams (two from the U.S., and one from Europe) racing to build the first of these giant land-based telescopes: Extremely Large Telescope (Europe), TMT (U.S.), and Giant Magellan Telescope (U.S.). (And no, we’re not making these names up… in almost every description we could find, these bad boys are characterized first and foremost by their massive size.) The total estimated price tag for all this summit development? $2.6 billion dollars.
In the midst of this competition to build the first and the largest, the worldwide community of those who share aloha for sacred summits are humbly asking: for time and real consideration for native ecosystems, threatened endemic species, the cultural meaning of sacred space, cultural practice, and the natural and cultural heritage we have to pass forward to next generations… all in short supply on earth today. Can we not rationally slow down this latest race for space, in the interest of the future of life on our own planet?
]]>Like a glove across the face, KAHEA and the Center for Biological Diversity sent a Notice of Intent to Sue yesterday warning federal regulators to expedite the critical habitat designation for Hawaiian monk seals… or else. Critical habitat is the backbone of the Endangered Species Act. It is the mechanism for shepherding species back from the verge of extinction. Over two years ago, we petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service to expand the critical habitat designation for the highly endangered Hawaiian monk seal. And NMFS agreed the seal needed more habitat to thrive. Yet, more than a year since they agreed with us, NMFS is not any closer to protecting vitally important nearshore areas and deepwater foraging grounds for the seal.
Not surprising, in that year, Hawaiian monk seals have only slipped closer to extinction with a 4% annual decline. In 2009, monk seals had the lowest pupping rate in the past 10 years, with every location in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands experiencing declines. In 2009, only 119 seal pups were born in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, compared with 138 in 2008. But in the Main Hawaiian Islands, birth rates seem more promising with 15 monk seal pups born including six pups on Moloka’i, five on Kaua’i, and two each on O’ahu and Maui. The federal government must act now to update the current protections for Hawaiian monk seals to ensure deepwater foraging areas of the NWHI are protected, as well as the areas being re-populated in the main islands.
Protecting this habitat for monk seals will also protect these areas for humans, too. Subsistence fishers and monk seals benefit from the same protections — where monk seals are protected, shoreline and nearshore non-commercial fishers are also protected. By expanding critical habitat for monk seals, we can ensure subsistence fishing grounds are not built over by hotels, highways, and industrial fish farms.
Yesterday, the Mauna Kea hui (Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, Royal Order of Kamehameha I, Sierra Club, KAHEA, and Clarence Kukauakahi Ching) filed the opening brief in our appeal to the Intermediate Court of Appeals challenging the Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) for Mauna Kea. The Circuit Court had denied our case on the theory that the CMP didn’t actually do anything to affect the summit.
If the CMP doesn’t do anything to affect the summit, then how can the University of Hawaii proceed with its proposal to build the Thirty Meter Telescope? Answer: they can’t.
The University of Hawaii — the sole creator, proponent and implementer of the CMP — simply can’t have it both ways. Either the CMP meets the legal requirements for construction in a conservation district and therefore does “something”… a “something” for which rightholders like the Mauna Kea hui can ask a court review. OR… the CMP doesn’t actually do anything, and therefore doesn’t meet the pre-requisite that a conservation district have comprehensive management before anything is built there … thus prohibiting the construction of a new massive telescope.
Here is the introduction to the hui’s opening brief:
This case is about the Board of Land and Natural Resources’ (“BLNR”) preferential treatment of the University of Hawai‘i’s astronomy program and its complete disregard for the protected rights of Native Hawaiian and other users of the summit of Mauna Kea. On its face, the University of Hawai‘i’s Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan (“CMP”) purports to broadly and actively regulate all uses of the Conservation District of Mauna Kea’s summit, including the religious, cultural, and recreational activities of the Mauna Kea Appellants. But the BLNR chose to completely ignore the CMP’s impact on Mauna Kea Appellants’ rights, duties and privileges. Contrary to its obligations under Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (“HRS”) Chapter 91 and Department of Land and Natural Resources (“DLNR”) regulations, (Hawai‘i Administration Rules (“H.A.R.”) §§ 13-1-28 – 13-1-40), the BLNR issued its final decision to approve the CMP without holding a full and formal contested case proceeding. Record on Appeal, 2009 (“ROA-2009″) at 20-27.
The Mauna Kea Appellants appealed the BLNR’s final decisions to the Third Circuit Court of Hawai‘i (“Circuit Court”). ROA-2009 at 1-15. Appellees BLNR and the UH entities refused to transmit the administrative record to the Circuit Court and instead filed a Motion to Dismiss the appeal. ROA-2009 at 254-265, 268-282. Incredibly, the Circuit Court determined, without ever reviewing the CMP or the rest of the administrative record, that the CMP was a harmless “unimplemented” document and dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. ROA-2009 at 369-372; Record on Appeal, 2010 (“ROA-2010″) at 1-9.
The Mauna Kea Appellants respectfully request that this Court reverse the Circuit Court’s order and remand this case to the Circuit Court: (1) with a finding that the Circuit Court has jurisdiction, under HRS § 91-14 and/or H.A.R. § 13-5-3 to review Appellants’ appeal from the BLNR’s final decisions; or, alternatively, (2) with a finding that the Circuit Court misapplied the standard of review for a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, particularly where the issue of subject matter jurisdiction is intertwined with the merits of the Appellants’ appeal.
In other words, please give the Mauna Kea hui its day in court. Here is a link to the full opening brief.
Big mahalo to our attorneys, Colin Yost and Elizabeth Dunne, for working so hard on our behalf.
]]>The Ho‘ike for the second graduating class of Ka Makani Kaiaulu o Wai‘anae that was held last friday totally renewed my internal spring of hope for the future of Hawai‘i. Ten young people with nothing in common, but their home along the Wai‘anae Coast, came together to learn about the history and power of social justice movements in Hawai‘i and around the world… and they got to participate in a little movement building themselves.
“Waianae needs more voices,” the returning institute student added. “A lot of people are affected by what’s going on but don’t do anything about it. It’s like an ongoing unfinished project. … We are just trying to do our part and along the way we are learning so much about Waianae, the cultural history, and the impact we can have on our future; not just in the community but the whole world if we do something.”
KAHEA staff had the honor of working with this youth during this summer program. We helped with some of the curriculum and encouraged them to participate in the LUC hearing on the Concerned Elders’ Petition to Intervene in the reclassification of ag land for an industrial park.
These students are an inspiration. Smart, compassionate, and full of possibility. The hope is to continue this program next summer or maybe even expand it into a year-long program. To do that, though, would mean a lot of community support and financial backing. If you are interested in donating to this program, click here.
Here is a link to the full story on the Ho‘ike in The Hawaii Independent.
]]>From Shelley:
This past Saturday, a small group of determined “door knockers” set out to give a heads up to residents on Hakimo Road in Lualualei about a proposed industrial park planned in their neighborhood of small farms and homes. Of all the 30 or so people we talked to, not a single person had heard about or been notified of these plans to industrialize the valley.
I have to admit, I was nervous going into a rural community knocking on doors, but everyone was really nice. They were thankful we came by because otherwise they would have never known that an industrial park is being proposed. Of course it helped being with Aunty Alice Greenwood, who everyone knows, and it felt good to hear people express their gratitude for her determination to fight. Those kind words are important to me because I’m always wary to get into other people’s business–knowing that we have their blessing and request to move forward tells me that we’re on the right path!
One thing that really tugged at my heartstrings was meeting more than one family that lost their farm in the Kalama Valley evictions in the 1970s. These families relocated to Wai`anae and 35 years later are again facing the displacement of their family business and rural lifestyle- -from some of the same developers!
For rural Hakimo Road, the developer’s own numbers cites an additional 522 trucks an hour during peak hours! I don’t even know how that is possible, but that figure comes directly out of their EIS report. The only legal access to the property is rural Hakimo Road. (Though the proposed site is actually on Lualualei Naval Road, this private road requires an agreement with the Navy for regular access. Our calls to the Navy have confirmed that no such agreement exists!)
If you have ever been on Hakimo Road you will know that 1) there are NO sidewalks, 2) it is narrow and winding, and 3) is already dangerous at the current traffic level, let alone with the addition of over 500 big trucks! One resident pointed out to us, “Go walk up and down, you’ll see flowers at almost every turn marking all the accidents!”–it was so sad, she was right. There’s a preschool on this road and many residents are worried about the health and safety of the kamalii (little ones) who go to school there.
Can you imagine if this was going on in your neighborhood? You can sign here to stand in solidarity with this community!
]]>On Sunday June 27th starting at about 2:00 pm, fishers and ‘ohana will be gathering in Waiawa to discuss issues surrounding the management of Ka‘ena Point on O‘ahu. (Click to see map)
Located at the most northwest point of O‘ahu, Ka‘ena is one of the last relatively wild shorelines left on the island. It is a beloved fishing spot for many families, a spiritual pathway into the afterlife, and a refuge for endangered birds.
Its extreme weather and remote location helped to limit development, though it has suffered its share of urban burdens, including train tracks, military training, and most recently mud-bogging and uncontrolled bonfires.
As you may already know, Ka‘ena has been the focus of many regulatory attempts over the years. Most of these past efforts have met with failure due to lack of community support. Here is a link to the long list of abandoned management schemes at Ka‘ena.
With a brand of tenacity unique to state government, once again, the community faces a new management plan developed by staff at the Department of Land and Natural Resources with only selected input from community members. The state needs a new management plan because Ka‘ena will likely be highlighted as one of O‘ahu’s wilderness camping areas under DLNR’s new “Recreational Renaissance.” Recreational Renaissance is just a nifty name for another scheme to raise money from the use of state land in a wide range of not-always-compatible ways, including the collection various permit and entry fees to state parks. A draft of the state’s plan for Ka‘ena will be open for general public comment at a hearing in late July.
In anticipation of this meeting and in response to many complaints about state management, shoreline fishers from around O‘ahu are gathering at a farm in Waiawa on June 27th to talk about the many issues facing this community. The recent trend in harassment of fishers by DLNR enforcement officers and HPD has led many to forego fishing the way their families have for generations. This is related to current state regulations that limit the longstanding practice of over-night fishing and current proposals to impose new permitting requirements on shoreline fishers. Click here to visit a blog specific to Ka‘ena management issues.
This is a tough issue to grapple with. For me, I think the disconnect was said best by one lifelong fisherman from Waipahu:
“Why you imposing fees on me, when I only can catch enough to feed my family, but you do nothing, nothing to prevent the massive fish takes by these commercial guys, who come in here just when the fish start to run and take the whole school one time?”
If you are interested in learning more about shoreline fishing issues on O‘ahu and want to connect with the local fishing community, please contact Summer at 753-4221/ culturalpractice@gmail.com to RSVP for the public meeting on June 27th at 2pm in Waiawa. She asks that you bring own chairs.
]]>The first preliminary hearing in the whole purple spot saga was held on May 20th before the Land Use Commission. The Land Use Commission met to decide whether the Environmental Impact Statement is complete for Tropic Land’s proposal to turn 96 acres of fertile farm land into an industrial park at the back of Lualualei Valley (the industrial park is the purple spot).
All six commissioners present agreed that the EIS is complete, but some of them made clear that based on the public testimony presented they had serious concerns about the proposal itself.
Testimony presented to the Land Use Commission alleged that Tropic Land, LLC is operating an unauthorized truck baseyard on agricultural land and has illegally mined pohaku from a known ancient Hawaiian cultural site.
“At least 85% of the farmland has been covered with asphalt,” said one eye-witness.
Activities like storage of trucks, and vehicle repair and maintenance are not allowed on land zoned for agricultural use. Waianae Coast residents said they filed complaints with both the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Enforcement Branch and the City and County of Honolulu.
Tropic Land, LLC has been cited on at least three other occasions for engaging in activities on the Lualualei property that were not consistent with its agricultural classification.
Pictures also documented the mining of stones on preservation land adjoining the Tropic Land parcel. Cultural surveys conducted on the parcel in the 1990’s confirm that this stones comprised a substantial, culturally significant platform.
A Nanakuli resident testified that ¾ of the substantial stone platform had been removed and some of the stones were used to make a sacred place to reinter Hawaiian burials exhumed by Wal-Mart on Keaaumoku Street. Tropic Land, LLC did not have authorization from the State Historic Preservation Division to remove stones from this site.
Tropic Land, LLC was before the Land Use Commission to change the classification of their Lualualei Valley property from agricultural to urban, in order to allow them to construct an industrial park on the property.
The Land Use Commission accepted Tropic Land, LLC’s final environmental impact statement for the industrial park proposal, but not before voicing concerns about the testimony presented by the public.
Holding up a picture of trucks parked behind a fence on the Tropic Land parcel, Commissioner Contrades asked Tropic Land’s attorney William Yuen, “is this correct?” Mr. Yuen said he had not seen the photograph, but that the property is not paved and trucks are not being stored on the property at this time.
Commissioner Wong asked Yuen a series of questions to clarify that acceptance of the EIS did not in anyway demonstrate support for or ensure approval of the project.
Commissioner Teves requested that the Commission perform a site visit to “see the so-called commercial use of the property in its present form, to see if it is true or not.”
What does this mean for the future of the purple spot?
It means that the formal one-year process to decide whether to rezone this part of Lualualei Valley from ag to urban has started. The hearing on the actual rezoning decision will be held on September 9, 2010 at 9:30 before the Land Use Commission.
It also means that the developer will have a very hard time arguing that this industrial park proposal is consistent with Waianae’s Community Sustainability Plan, since the current has no purple spot allowing for industrialization of this area… and the amended one with the purple spot has not been adopted by the Honolulu City Council. In fact, staff at the city said they don’t expect the Waianae Community Sustainability Plan to come before the Council the Fall of 2010.
]]>From Miwa:
I wrote the little explanation below the other day to Uncle Bill Aila, Jr. in response to an email from him. Though it was written for him, I thought I would share it here on our blog, as others may have questions about KAHEA’s support of Na Koa and Koani Foundation in their request for intervention on World Heritage Site designation for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands:
First and foremost, KAHEA fully supports legal protections promulgated in the State Refuge and the Monument, including the prohibition on commercial fishing within 50 miles of the islands. We believe deeply in a vision of full conservation of the NWHI, as it represents a significant place of refuge for cultural practice, for native endangered species, and for some of the last predator-dominated reefs remaining on the planet.
However, as you know well (!), we have had, and continue to have, some deep concerns about management in the NWHI by the state and feds. Including:
1) Lack of meaningful prioritization for activities in the NWHI, or of analysis of cumulative impacts (taking into account past activity–including legacy over-exploitation and military activity)
2) Weak and disorganized permitting – “unified” permit process not really very unified in implementation
3) No enforcement plan, failure to push for accountability/mitigations/appropriate limits on military activity in the NWHI
4) Lack of funding/focus on cultural access or study
5) No public advisory entity established for Monument and limited venues/opportunities for public participation on decision-making
6) Lack of collaboration: Monument Management Board has not met in nearly six months? Multi-agency commitment to integrated ecosystem management getting lost on turf wars.
At the heart of this, is an exhibited inability for the co-trustees to collaborate effectively. Officials on the Federal side have acknowledged “some deep conflicts” which the Federal agencies are “struggling to resolve.” Though many are eager to take credit for the protections in place for the NWHI, implementation has lacked the political will to “make it work.”
We support Na Koa and Koani Foundation in their request for intervention for the following reasons:
In many communities, the decision to pursue a WHS designation comes only after years of conversation, debate, struggle and consultation. We are concerned that Native Hawaiian consultation on the WHS proposal was indeed inadequate, conveying unified support, when this is not in fact the case.
Further, World Heritage designation does not offer any additional enforceable protections for the NWHI. Indeed, over 30 World Heritage Sites are currently threatened with de-listing, due to poor management by those in charge, including the Belize Barrier Reef System and the Galapagos Islands. In an article written this past February, Goldman Prize winner John Sinclair heavily criticized Australian officials for neglecting conservation management for his beloved Fraser Island following its World Heritage designation, in favor of facility upgrades, and recreation management (e.g. widening roads) at the expense of “natural resource management, — environmental monitoring of wildlife and ecosystems, fire management, weed control, and quarantine.”
In many cases, this designation is used to promote tourism to a site (See http://www.expedia.com/daily/sustainable_travel/world_heritage/default.asp), which ironically increases the tourism impacts to the site intended for protection.
What World Heritage designation does offer is prestige and publicity. Prestige and publicity is not a need for the NWHI, as a great deal of public attention has already been placed on the protection of the NWHI. Indeed, a TIME magazine’s feature Earth Day article (Bryan Walsh) on oceans just last week noted NWHI protections as hopeful action in an otherwise pretty dismal picture of world-wide ocean resources management.
What is needed is not more attention or prestige. What is needed is accountable, integrated and cooperative management that puts the resource and the rightholders first.
Let’s do that–let’s get there–and we’ll have a place that can really be held up as an example to the world of how ocean conservation that strongly protects cultural practice can be done well. This is our hope, and vision ahead of our efforts.
At the same time on the same island in the ahupua’a right next door, developers propose to build 1,400 homes, a golf course, and a shopping mall over a rare dryland forest. The Wailea 670 project would threaten 20 native species and desecrate multiple inter-connected sites of cultural signficance. Public comments are now being taken on the Environmental Impact Statement for the Wailea 670 project in South Maui. To learn more and submit comments, visit www.savemakena.org/wailea.
]]>From our friends at NHLC:
The State Water Commission meets on May 19, 2010 May 26th (UPDATE: Date change!) to act on the latest round of petitions by East Maui residents seeking to restore stream flow to 19 East Maui streams, when HC&S is WASTING water being diverted. Na Moku Aupuni O Ko`olau Hui is seeking restoration so the fish, o`opu, hihiwai, and o`opu can return to those streams and support the constitutionally-protected cultural practices of Hawaiians.
Without doubt, A&B/HC&S is wasting water. The Water Commission has already concluded that it uses 70% more water than it should in the wet season and 40% more water than it should during the dry season. Moreover, unless this Water Commission demands that they do more, A&B/HC&S’ leaky irrigation system and poor maintenance practices will continue wasting this valuable resource, because the State only charges this sugar plantation less than ¼ of a penny per thousand gallons, discouraging any conservation while depleting the State of fair market value for the use of this invaluable resource (collected from 33,000 acres of ceded lands, or about $4.84 per acre per year).
Learn more, see the flyer
Click to see more detailed information at CWRM website on Na Moku Aupuni O Ko`olau’s petitions to restore 27 East Maui Streams now dewatered by Alexander and Baldwin, Inc. and its Maui subsidiaries, Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company and East Maui Irrigation Company.
What you can do:
Please keep those letters to the editor going, leading to this Water Commission action meeting on whether to restore 19 East Maui streams. We are starting to see some really intelligent responses to the A&B/HC&S propaganda.
You can write to the editors of your daily papers:
Maui News: Use form at: http://vnr.oweb.net/vnr/add_submission.asp?categoryID=769&publicationID=110
Honolulu Advertiser:
E-mail: letters@honoluluadvertiser.com
Fax: (808) 535-2415
Online: Use online form: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/form/op/letters
Honolulu Star Bulletin:
Email to: letters@starbulletin.com
Fax: (808) 529-4750
Click to see latest CWRM agenda information for most recent information on where the May 19 meeting will be held and at what time.
Questions? Contact either Camille Kalama (cakalam@nhlchi.org) or Alan Murakami (almurak@nhlchi.org) or at 808-521-2302.
]]>Last week, the Board of Land and Natural Resources held a special meeting to consider several permit applications from HIMB researchers for activities in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Papahānaumokuākea. After several years of public testimony at every permit hearing — and even finally, a lawsuit! – the Land Board and its staff finally admitted: a cumulative impact assessment IS needed to understand the affects of harmful human activity on this extremely fragile place BEFORE permits are issued to allow prohibited activities. Hallelujah!
Unfortunately, knowing you were wrong and getting it right are not the same thing.
At the meeting, staff gave a very technical presentation about past permitted activities, how they are documented, and what the likely affects are. Then representatives from the applicants — Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) — testified to studies they have conducted on themselves to assess the impact they are (not) having on the environment. These are good and noble acts that should be continued, but do not get at the heart of the issue over the issuance of permits for taking species, dumping waste water, anchoring, constructing, and dredging activities in the largest NO-TAKE marine reserve in Hawai’i. These activities have the potential to harm the very thing that is trying to be studied (and ostensibly saved). Yet? Still no cumulative impact assessment. Still no environmental assessment.
The researchers and the staff obviously have some information about the impacts of human activities in the NWHI. Why not put that together into an environmental impact statement and release it for public comment?
Permits are required because the activities requested are prohibited. Permission is to be given for prohibited activities when they are necessary for conservation, management and cultural perpetuation. This is at the heart of a “permit” system.
The issue: We are supposed to have a public process to evaluate what activities are really needed, and balance them against the cumulative impacts. How can we do this without the legally required environmental assessment (EA)? Or for that matter, without a public process?
All the while granting of permits continues to be driven by availability of grant/Federal dollars, rather than the actual need for the activity.
Today, decisions for the Monument are being made in the dark–and it shows. We continue to ask: open up the Monument to transparent, accountable decision making for this public trust. Hold public meetings of the Monument Management Board, where permitting decisions can be made in the light of day. Really, what is there to hide?
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