Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 6, 1 June 1993 — Kahoʻolawe Island Conveyance Commission's report to Congress contains wealth of information [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kahoʻolawe Island Conveyance Commission's report to Congress contains wealth of information

by Jeff Clark Give it back, elean it up and leave it alone forever - that's the gist of what the Kaho'olawe Island Conveyance Commission (KICC) is telling the United States to do with Kaho'olawe. On March 31 the commission delivered its report, "Kaho'olawe Island: Restoring a Cultural Treasure," to Congress. It reads, "KICC's major finding is that Kaho'olawe is a wahi pana and a pu'uhonua - a special plaee with unique and important cultural, archeo!ogical, historical, and environmental resources of loeal, national, and intemational signifieanee. Because of this, KICC has concluded that all military use of Kaho'olawe must cease,

and that the state of Hawai'i must guarantee in perpetuity that the island and its surrounding waters be used exclusively for the practice of traditional and contemporary native Hawaiian culture, including religion - and for educational and scientific purposes." Recommendation 1.1 states that Kaho'olawe shall be retumed to the state as quickly as possible, and that the legislation causing that retum should stipulate: • that title be given to Hawai'i without conditions or reverter; • that the United States will be responsible for the removal of

unexploded ordnance and other hazardous or toxic waste left by the military in order to make the island safe for human habitation

and use; • that the U.S. shall provide for the island's restoration by funding soil conservation and reforesta- l

tion, water resource development, archeological and i historical site J preservation, Ē elimination of m destmctive non-

native plants and animals, and the instal- i lation of J fences and Ē

signs; and • that the m o n e y i used for J restora- Ē

t i o n e o m e j f r o m J t h e Ē gen- '

eral funds of the U.S. so the island won't have to wait for special funding on one of the federal site elean-up lisls. Congress, through the U.S. Department of Defense, will grant funds for soil conservation and related restoration activities to the state; it will grant funds for ordnance and hazardous waste removal to federal agencies that carry out such work. Reiterating the executive order

that established it, the KICC says the island should be restored "to a condition safe for human habitation and use." That will be a big job, as thousands of tons of military hardware were dropped there. The eomm i s -

sion's consultant, Baliena Systems Corp., estimated that about 6,000 potentially dangerous pieces of unexploded ordnance remain in the areas swept by the military in the last decade, most of them on the surface or less than a foot underground. Ordnance and other specialized weaponry such as torpedoes may also be present in the

surrounding waters. The report also recommends that the state establish an oversight commission for future use of the island, and limit that use to the study and practice of native Hawaiian culture, archeological preservation, soil conservation and reforestation. The state

negisiaiuie ou V May 3 passed a W bill establishing ■ such a commission I and dictating such use. (See Ka Wai Ola May 1993 for details of the bill.)

n /\ii oi uie siaie s ■ restoration programs W will be undertaken "in 1 cooperation with the native Hawaiian eommunity."

H The reforestation and V revegetation program will V use native plants where posV sible, and will include grass W replanting in watershed areas ■ and windbreak planting. The I state will also begin a water

resource program that includes catchment, groundwater development and desalinization. The report calls for the

management, monitoring and protection of Kaho'olawe's hundreds of archeological sites. The commission also wants access to the island to fall under the jurisdiction of the state, and access by the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana to continue. The report is the result of more than two years of work by the commission, whieh included workshops, monthly meetings, two rounds of statewide public hearings, visits to Kaho'olawe, and contracting various studies. While it primarily serves as a directive to Congress and the state, the report also includes a weakh of useful information on the island, from a discussion of the island's various ancient names and their meanings to a listing

of the "Kaho'olawe Nine" and other activiSts involved in the first illegal landings. Among the report's findings: • erosion is so bad that

Kaho'olawe is losing more than 1.8 million tons of soil per year, and mueh of the island's east end has eroded to the point that only hardpan remains. • a new plant genus, whieh the scientific community (at the sug-

gestion of the commission) named Ka Palupalu O Kanaloa (the gentleness of Kanaloa), was recently discovered on the island. • Kaho'olawe's laek of development has resulted in the preservation of most of its archeological sites, and "no other island has a comparable array of intact fishing shrines." Copies of the report are available at public libraries statewide, and by next fall all the information gathered since 1990, including consultant reports in their entirety. will be available for viewing at the state Archives and the Office of State Planning. Commissioners met with Hawai'i's congressional delegation last September to devise a strategy to get Congress and the president to follow the report's recommendations. Given the change in Washington's political climate, another meeting is planned for June 7 to ensure that "we're all singing the same song," according to Santos. The commission is scheduled to dissolve by Sept. 30.

"All military use of Kaho'olawe must cease." - KICC

"Kaho'olawe lsland and its waters offer a unique challenge to all of Hawai'i's peopie to preserve and protect a corner of their island state so that future generations ean heeome familiar with their islands' past human an naiural heritages." - KICC

Ka'ahea Papa iā Kanaloa, he moku I hānau 'ia he punua he nai'a, he keiki ia na Papa i hānau ... Papa was prostrated with Kanaloa (Kaho'olawe), an island, Who was born as a birdling; as a porpoise; A child that Papa gave birth to ... - Pakui, Kamehameha I's court chanter/composer

This map, taken from the Kaho'olawe lsland Conveyance Commission's report to Congress, shows the estimated degrees of danger from unexploded ordnance on land and in waters surrounding Kaho'oiawe.