Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 9, 1 September 1988 — Land Board Requires DOT To Pay OHA Trust In Transfer of Submerged Maui Lands [ARTICLE]

Land Board Requires DOT To Pay OHA Trust In Transfer of Submerged Maui Lands

By Linda Kawai'ono Delaney Land Officer Eaeh month the State Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) routinely considers and approves items ranging from the rents charged for cabins at Koke'e State Park on Kaua'i to applications from graduate students for access to traditional Hawaiian adze manufacturing sites on the Island of Hawai'i.

As the land title holder for the State of Hawai'i, the actions taken by the BLNR have a direct and usually beneficial impact on the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) trust. In fact, the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) is now the only State department or agency whieh honors thc OHA trust by transferring 20 percent of the ineome generated from certain ceded lands under their jurisdiction to the Office. T o facilitate government operations, jurisdiction

or the authority to act on and for State lands is sometimes transferred to another department or governmental agency. For example, title to puhlie school grounds is vested in DLNR, but jurisdiction has been transferred to the Department of Edueation.

As the "real" landowner, however, all such transfers must be approved by the Board of Land and Natural Resources. In a major break-through of recognition for the OHA trust entitlement, the Board of Land and Natural Resources this month unanimously approved such a transfer of jurisdiction subject to OHA's pro rata share of trust ineome. This aehon was especially significant because the affected agency was the State Department of T ransportation (DOT) — the major lands ineome producer in Hawai'i and the major resister of any payment to the OHA trust.

At issue was an Executive Order by Governor Waihe'e transferring the administration of submergea lands off-shore from Ka'anapali on Maui from the Department of Land and Natural Resources to DOT. These lands do not presently generate any ineome — but the reason for the transfer was to allow DOT to develop mooring areas outside the popular resort area and to charge fees. As a formal condition of approval, if the DOT refuses or otherwise fails to comply with the trust by forwarding 20 percent of these fees to OHA, then the transfer would be revoked and jurisdiction would return to the Department of Land and Natural Resources. This action by the DLNR Board is a strong signal of agreement with the long-standing OHAposition

that such trust eomplianee by the DOT is legal, appropriate, and overdue.