Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 3, 1 March 2007 — Legislative Update [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Legislative Update

Kalo genetics, palaee repairs among Hawaiian measures still moving

By Sterling Kini Weng Publicatiūns Editur Former OH A Chairperson and current state Sen. Clayton Hee has introduced a bill that would designate kalo as Hawai'i's state plant. The bill references the traditional belief that kalo is the elder sibling of Hawaiians, owing to their shared lineage to Wākea, the deity of the sky, and his daughter Ho'ohōkūkalani. In addition, state lawmakers are also now considering imposing a five- or tenyear moratorium on testing or growing genetically altered kalo in Hawai'i. Over the last several years, kalo has been the center of a heated dispute about genetically modified crops, and some Native Hawaiians are championing the bills as a means to protect the sacred plant from further genetic manipulation by University of Hawai'i scientists, who several years ago added disease-resistant genes from rice into the Hawaiian Maui Lehua kalo variety. Scientists, on the other hand, expressed concerns that prohibiting genetic research on kalo would eliminate the ehanee of finding additional defenses for the plant against fungal diseases and insects that have already caused huge

crop losses in the state. Since 2005, UH officials have agreed to halt all genetie modification experiments on Hawaiian kalo varieties, and a compromise has been suggested that would subject only Hawaiian kalo varieties to the genetic engineering ban being contemplated by state legislators. Other bills impacting Native Hawaiians include: • State lawmakers are onee again considering a ban on the sale of 'opihi, a native delicacy whieh many fear is vanishing from Hawai'i shores at an alarming rate. After receiving overwhelming support for the bill last year, legislators passed the measure, only to have Gov. Linda Lingle veto it. The bill would prohibit the harvesting of more than onehalf gallon of 'opihi by one person per day. • As KWO went to press, the Senate Ways and Means Committee was due to hear a measure that would set aside an unspecified amount of funds from the puhlie lands trust in the next fiseal year to repair and maintain 'Iolani Palaee, Queen Emma's Summer Palaee and Hulihe'e Palaee, whieh was heavily damaged in last year's

earthquake. According to the measure, OHA would oversee the expenditure of the maintenanee and repair funds. • Several other bills that the Senate Ways and Means Committee may consider would appropriate funds for the University of Hawai'i at Hilo's Hawaiian language program, the Hilo-based Hawaiian language immersion school Nāwahīokalani'ōpu'u and a program to develop scienee curricula based on traditional Hawaiian practices, such as ancient navigation techniques, to be used within the puhlie school system. • State lawmakers are discussing the creation of an advisory committee that would examine the development of an 'Aha Moku Council that would make recommendations to the state on how it should manage its natural resources based on traditional Hawaiian practices and knowledge. E3

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