Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 18, Number 10, 1 October 2001 — Follow-up on ceded lands inventory is critical [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Follow-up on ceded lands inventory is critical

Aloha mai no e na 'oiwi o Hawai'i. This llth KWO article in a series of 48 eontinues from last month's article in highlighting issues and efforts related to the Puhlie Land Trust and creation of a land inventory. In Report No. 79-1, Financial Audit of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the state auditor "had found that the department had not developed a comprehensive inventory of puhlie lands, nor distinguished ceded lands from nonceded lands." The department developed a computerized listing of all puhlie lands in 1982, in response to the report. However, in a recent report by the state auditor it is noted, "due to laek of maintenance and upkeep, the computerized list is now outdated and inaccurate." Last month's article referenced the 1982 Legislature's enactment of Act 121 "requiring the auditor to (1) complete the inventory, (2) to study the numerous legal and fiscal issues relating to the use of land (3)

to study the use and distribution of revenues from ceded lands." In Report 86-17, Final Report on the Public land trust, the Auditor notes "that the public land trust contained public lands as well as ceded lands" and that "there were some ceded and public lands that are not part of the public land trust." Survey maps and title searches of a portion of the state's airport and harbor were included but lacked analysis of all ceded lands due to time and resource limits. Report 86-17 also noted that the DLNR (land department) inventory of public lands had inaccuracies. It noted that inventory was based on "outdated tax maps and executive orders and confusing and inconsistent land transfer documents". Report 86-17 furthered noted that "department practices created inconsistencies," and "the land department traced title histories of parcels primarily from executive orders and files within the department and from survey maps and documents from the

Department of Accounting and General Services." It was stated that, "in some cases, for a parcel without a title history, -the department used the title history of surrounding properties to assist in determining the history of the land in question. In other cases, the department applied a majority rule to classify a pieee of land with mixed ceded or non-ceded status. A parcel was classified as ceded if the percentage of ceded lands identified in the parcel was greater than the non-ceded portion. Similarly, a parcel containing a majority of nonceded lands was classified as non-ceded. While the land department identified about 30 parcels classified in this manner, it did not maintain a list of these parcels." In 1997, Act 329 was enacted requiring the DLNR to "complete a comprehensive inventory database of all lands subject to section 5(f) of the Admission Act." The department coordinated efforts with a joint committee made up of mem-

bers of the Legislature, OHA, and the governor's office. The joint committee was tasked with studying and making recommendations on issues relating to the public land trust. The land department issued an RFP, held a pre-selection conferenee but did not select a consultant to conduct the project because "the joint committee failed to agree on the date of origination for title histories." In 2000, Act 125, enacted by the Legislature, directed the Auditor to initiate and coordinate all efforts to establish a public land trust information system, requiring that the information system include an inventory of the public land trust and requiring the auditor to submit a progress report to the 2001 Legislature outlining "necessary tasks to complete the public land trust information system and inventory." He mo'olelo lō'ihi nō e ho'omau 'ia ana i ka mahina a'e. (To be continued.) ■

Haunani Apoliona, MSW Trustee, At-large