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THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

RECOGNIZING THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ORDER TO
   STOP THE BOMBING OF KAHO'OLAWE.



 1       WHEREAS, this year will mark the tenth anniversary when
 2   United States (U.S.) President George Bush directed U.S.
 3   Secretary of Defense on October 22,1990, to discontinue use of
 4   the island of Kaho'olawe as a weapons range, "effective
 5   immediately"; and
 6   
 7       WHEREAS, since Statehood, the Hawaii Legislature
 8   (Legislature) has introduced approximately 40 bills and
 9   resolutions calling for an end to military use and the return
10   of Kaho'olawe to the State of Hawaii (State); and
11   
12       WHEREAS, 24 years ago, when Native Hawaiians occupied the
13   island, Kaho'olawe became a public symbol for highlighting
14   Hawaiian issues; and
15   
16       WHEREAS, on February 11, 1977, for the first time in its
17   history, the Hawaii House of Representatives suspended its
18   rules to allow George Jarrett Helm to address members on a
19   substantive issue after adopting a resolution requesting the
20   U.S. Navy to immediately stop the bombing of Kaho'olawe; and
21   
22       WHEREAS, in 1978, a Legislative Ad Hoc Committee on
23   Kaho'olawe (Committee) published "Kaho'olawe: Aloha No: A
24   Legislative Study of the Island of Kaho'olawe" in which the
25   Committee found that:
26   
27       (1)  The Navy could not sufficiently support its claim for
28            needing the entire island of Kaho'olawe;
29   
30       (2)  The Navy should begin to cleanup the island; and
31   
32       (3)  Planting of native vegetation should begin;
33   
34   and

 
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 1       WHEREAS, that same year, Governor George Ariyoshi signed a
 2   Memorandum of Understanding with the Navy in which both the
 3   State and the Navy agreed to work on programs to eliminate
 4   goats, protect archeological sites, and revegetate the island;
 5   and
 6   
 7       WHEREAS, then, a court-ordered Consent Decree, which was
 8   signed by the Navy and the Protect Kaho'olawe Ohana,  granted
 9   access to the island and required the Navy to protect historic
10   and cultural sites, clear surface ordnance, begin soil
11   conservation programs, eradicate goats, and limit future
12   ordnance training to the central part of the island; and
13   
14       WHEREAS, for over 20 years, beginning in 1980, the Protect
15   Kaho'olawe Ohana has facilitated access to Kaho'olawe for
16   Native Hawaiians and the general public for religious,
17   educational, and scientific activities; and
18   
19       WHEREAS, in 1990, the U.S. Congress established the
20   Kaho'olawe Island Conveyance Commission (KICC) to identify
21   terms and conditions for the return of the island to the State,
22   and members of the KICC were named by the Navy, the State, and
23   the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; and
24   
25       WHEREAS, a year later, the KICC held numerous public
26   hearings statewide to gather public comments and suggestions
27   and contracted for 21 reports on Kaho'olawe's history, its
28   natural resources, the extent of unexploded ordnance, and the
29   estimated costs of clearance and restoration of the island; and
30   
31       WHEREAS, subsequently, the KICC submitted its final report
32   to Congress, and recommended that the island be returned to the
33   State, and that the United States should bear the costs for the
34   clearance and removal of ordnance and related waste, soil
35   conservation, revegetation, and other rehabilitation
36   activities; and
37   
38       WHEREAS, in 1993, the Legislature created the Kaho'olawe
39   Island Reserve, consisting of the island of Kaho'olawe and two
40   miles of its submerged lands and waters; the Legislature also
41   created the seven-member Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission
42   (KIRC) after finding that the island is of significant cultural
43   and historic importance to the native people of Hawaii, and
44   determining that "a new management regime" was needed to
45   effectively meet the challenges of restoring, preserving, and
46   determining the appropriate use of Kaho'olawe; and

 
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 1       WHEREAS, six years ago, on May 7, 1994, the island of
 2   Kaho'olawe was returned to the State during a formal conveyance
 3   ceremony at Palauea Beach, Maui, after the Congress passed a
 4   bill ending the bombing and requiring the Navy to return the
 5   island and begin a cleanup of the unexploded ordnance; and
 6   
 7       WHEREAS, in 1995, the KIRC held statewide meetings to
 8   incorporate public input: on the Kaho'olawe Use Plan which
 9   designates cultural education centers, trails, and other land
10   uses; and on the KIRC's vision statement which calls for a
11   restored land and ocean and the island serving as the
12   "crossroads of past and future generations, from which the
13   native Hawaiian lifestyle is spread"; and
14   
15       WHEREAS, a year later, for the first time, the people of
16   Hawaii were able to learn in detail about the island in an
17   exhibit at the Bishop Museum which drew record crowds and
18   subsequently traveled to all the major islands and will be
19   exhibited in Washington D.C. next year; and
20   
21       WHEREAS, in 1997, the Navy named its contractor for the
22   $270 million cleanup; the KIRC released its Ocean Management
23   Plan, which calls for responsible use of the island's ocean
24   resources by establishing zones for different types of
25   culturally appropriate subsistence fishing; and a public
26   ceremony was held dedicating a traditional Hawaiian shrine to
27   increase the clouds and rain between Haleakala and Kaho'olawe
28   and help to revegetate the island; and
29   
30       WHEREAS, in 1998, a series of meetings across the State
31   allowed the public to comment on how the Navy was preparing to
32   conduct its cleanup of the island, and the KIRC completed its
33   Environmental Restoration Plan and began to purchase native
34   plants for planting near the summit of Lua Makika; and
35   
36       WHEREAS, during the past year, the KIRC launched Hakilo, a
37   workboat for monitoring reserve waters, and marine biologists
38   found the waters surrounding Kaho'olawe to be a significant
39   resource, which can serve as a bottom fish nursery for the
40   entire State; and
41   
42       WHEREAS, 20,000 plants were planted by volunteers to begin
43   the healing of the island, and more than 200 cleanup workers
44   were educated by the KIRC on how to be respectful and sensitive
45   to the island while they work there; and

 
 
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 1       WHEREAS, in the next four years, the Navy and its
 2   contractors will complete their cleanup operations, and the
 3   KIRC and the State will assume full control of the island; and
 4       WHEREAS, the KIRC is developing a cultural-educational
 5   plan, a risk management plan, and other important policies and
 6   procedures to allow meaningful, safe use of the island after
 7   the Navy departs; now, therefore,
 8   
 9       BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
10   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000, the House of
11   Representatives concurring, that this body recognizes the tenth
12   anniversary of the presidential order to stop the bombing on
13   the island of Kaho'olawe; and
14   
15       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body recognizes that a
16   significant record of achievement has been accomplished in the
17   10 years since the bombing has stopped, especially the
18   returning of the island of Kaho'olawe to the people of Hawaii;
19   and
20   
21       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that there be increased and
22   continued efforts to restore the island and ensure its future
23   as a rich, cultural, and environmental resource for all of
24   Hawaii's people; and
25   
26       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
27   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to Hawaii's Congressional
28   Delegation, the Governor of the State of Hawaii, and members of
29   the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission.  
30 
31 
32                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________