Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 12, 1 December 2010 — UH law student reflects on land trusts in Hawaiʻi [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

UH law student reflects on land trusts in Hawaiʻi

By Lehua Ka'uhane

I / \ A #hynotjustbuy * ' \ /V / it all back," a \ Ē \ Ē friend asked \Ē \Ē a few years V V ago as we discussed the future of land in Hawai'i. At the time the idea seemed farfetched. While still unfeasible to buy all land back, there are legal tools available to protect biocultural resources significant to the Lāhui - t he land trust. Land trusts are nonprofit organizations that actively conserve land primarily by acquisition of fee-sim-ple title or conservation easements. Conservation easements are private legal agreements that preserve biocultural resources by removing or limiting an owner's right to develop, destroy or damage those resources. A key component of land trust work is partnership. Land trusts work with willing landowners, private and government funders, and increasingly communities in eonserving biocultural resources. The Conservation Transactions class at the William S. Richardson School of Law sparked my interest in the role of land trusts in biocultural conservation. Initially, I was skeptical about what "conservation" meant. Early conservation organizations in Hawai'i frequently met with strong opposition from Hawaiian communities, oftentimes because they lacked an understanding of community history and values. I recalled stories about kalo farmers restricted from building necessary structures to support their farming because of their loeahon on

conservation lands. I had visions of "fortress conservationism," excluding kānaka from utilizing land. What did land trusts have to offer kānaka? I was excited to learn that "eonservation" could include, among other things, cultural and historic preservation, food self-sufficiency, building community gardens, and connecting underserved youth in urban communities with the natural environment. A travel grant from the Richardson School of Law Environmental Law Program allowed further exploration of this subject, funding my attendance at the 2010 Land Trust Allianee Rally, Oct. 3 to 5 in Hartford, Connecticut. The Rally is an annual knowledge-sharing convention of land trusts and conservation organizations on topics like funding sources, ensuring the perpetuity of easements, managing land trusts, and the eonneehon of land and people. This year, there was a small but passionate group representing Hawai'i at the Rally, including Kevin Chang from OHA's Land and Property Management Program, Laura Ka'akua from the Trust For Public Land (TPL) and Helen Nielsen from the Maui Coastal Land Trust. The land trust movement in Hawai'i is growing. Land trusts in Hawai'i range from large national organizations like Nature Conservancy and smaller island-focused land trusts to those that exist to protect one parcel. The Trust for Public Land, a nahonal land trust specializing in stewarding conservation transactions, has helped to conserve 36,000 acres in Hawai'i in collaboration with community organizations like MA'O Organic Farms in Wai'anae and Ka 'Ohana O Honu'apo in Ka'ū. TPL provides important funding, legal and transachonal expertise to community groups and state agencies to help protect

cultural heritage, food and energy sustainability and coastlines. The return of Waimea Valley and Wao Kele o Puna are examples where OHA has partnered with TPL to purchase significant cultural lands. The land trust and conservation movement in Hawai'i is growing and there is a need for more kānaka to get involved on all fronts from on-the-ground management iniīiatives to directorships and board participation. Community input is necessary for project success and provides an incentive for land trusts to incorporate meaningful eommunity participation. Beyond input, land trusts ean be a tool to preserve, own and manage our lands while the political process struggles with determining their status. ■ Lehua Ka 'uhane is a second-year student at the University ofHawai 'i William S. Richardson School of Law. Kevin K.J. Chang, OHA Land Manager, and OHA student helper Alex Connelly contributed to this article.

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