Bill Text: HI SB2485 | 2010 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Mokauea Island

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 15-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-11 - (S) Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to JGO. [SB2485 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2010-SB2485-Amended.html

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STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2181

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2485

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2485 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MOKAUEA ISLAND,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to authorize the Department of Land and Natural Resources to renegotiate leases with residents of Mokauea Island to facilitate the creation of an educational center where students, teachers, and other members of the public can learn the traditional methods used in a self-sustaining Hawaiian fishing village and establish the Mokauea Island Advisory Committee.

 

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by one state agency, four organizations, and fourteen individuals.  One state agency submitted testimony in opposition.  Written testimony presented to the Committee may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

    

     Mokauea Island is Oahu's last Hawaiian fishing village, located in Keehi Lagoon less than a half a mile from downtown Honolulu.  The State attempted to evict the families in 1972, arresting some residents, and in 1975, the State burned down some of the resident's homes.  However, in 1978, due to public pressure, the State negotiated long-term leases with the residents if they would rebuild and establish an educational program for local students to learn about traditional fishing and the reef environment.  The Mokauea community has faced many obstacles in the last thirty years, from the high cost of rebuilding and living in Honolulu to invasive species and pollution.  Since 2005, Kai Makana has been leading the effort to environmentally and culturally restore Mokauea Island.  Adopting the original vision for Mokauea Island, its goal is to recreate a living example of a traditional Hawaiian subsistence fishing village as a learning center that will allow for scientific studies and the perpetuation and practice of Hawaiian fishing and seafaring culture.

 

     In 2009, over thirteen hundred students, teachers, and community members participated in service projects on Mokauea Island, including restoration of the fishpond, removal of marine debris, reintroduction of native plants, and removal of invasive seaweeds.  Your Committee finds that this measure will facilitate the creation of an education center where students, teachers, and other members of the public can learn the traditional methods used in a self-sustaining Hawaiian fishing village.

 

     The leases issued to the residents of Mokauea Island in 1978 were negotiated by the Department of Land and Natural Resources.  However, Executive Order No. 3202 places Mokauea Island under the jurisdiction and management of the Department of Transportation.  Thus, your Committee believes that the question of jurisdiction for the purposes of this Act should be left to the Governor to designate.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Inserting a provision to have the Governor designate the state agency that shall have jurisdiction for the purposes of this Act; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for the purposes of style and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2485, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2485, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs,

 

		____________________________ CLAYTON HEE, Chair