Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 18, Number 11, 1 November 2001 — Discussion on public land trust continues [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Discussion on public land trust continues

Aloha mai kakou e na 'oiwi o Hawai'i. This 12th KWO article in a series of 48 eontinues to highlight the creation of a land inventory of the Public Land Trust (reference September and October 2001 KWO). The passage of ACT 125 in 2000 directed the state auditor to initiate and coordinate all efforts to establish a public land trust information system, and to facilitate the establishment of a comprehensive information system to inventory and maintain information about the lands of the public land trust described in section 5(f) of the admission act and section 4, article XII of the state constitution. The auditor divided the project into two phases. Phase one was to include conduct of title searches, surveying, mapping, digitizing and other related work on certain parcels of land to develop recommendations and plans for the establishment of a comprehensive public land trust information system. Phase two was to perform title searches, surveying, mapping, digitizing and other

necessary tasks to carry out the plans developed in the first phase to complete the information system. The Auditor procured R.M. Towill to complete phase one. Their professionals included abstractors, title searchers for government and private lands, experts in land law and Hawaiian language translation, developers and implementors of databases and geographic information systems, and aerial photogrammetic mappers. Security Title Corporation also worked with Towill. The objectives of phase one was to identify issues affecting the establishing of a comprehensive inventory of the public land trust as of statehood and assess fiscal and legal impacts of alternative resolutions; to develop cost estimates for completing a comprehensive and definitive public land trust inventory system based on surveying, mapping and digitizing a sufficient number of parcels; and to make appropriate recommendations. Phase two objectives would include completing a "public land trust information system that

describes the lands and pertinent activities related to the lands of the public land trust from statehood to present" and to make appropriate recommendations. Findings of phase one note "an automated public land trust inventory system will be costly." The Auditor's report says, "based on our analysis of the requirements in ACT 125, Session Laws of Hawai'i 2000 and abstracting of selecting parcels, we conclude that a geographic information system (GIS) is the best ehoiee." The GIS provides easy to understand graphieal output and analysis. The data requirements stated in ACT 125 directly correlate with the GIS strengths that provide spatial analyses. The GIS ean display data graphically in a series of "visual maps" that ean "overlay" the previous display to show the relation of data among the series of maps. The report found that gathering information could lead to impediments to delay or hinder the project. It was noted that abstracting government lands took the most time to

complete. Certain agencies operations or procedures could impede the ability to gather necessary data to produce the comprehensive land trust information system thereby diminishing the comprehensiveness of the final product. The report said that to ensure that ceded lands are properly identified, title searches back to the 1 848 Māhele were needed. According to the current state land inventory, the public land trust is comprised of a total of 15,898 parcels. The auditor developed two cost estimates for completing the public land trust information as a result of the assessment and analysis done in phase one. The cost estimate for option A is approximately $18,500,000 based on implementing the necessary procedures on a county-by-county basis; and for option B is approximately $19,000,000, based on the sequential completion of the two main tasks — abstracting and developing the GIS without regard for the location of the parcel. E mau ana — a hui hou aku. ■

Haunani Apoliona, MSW

Trustee, At-large