Report Title:

Preservation of Māhā'ulepū

WHEREAS, Māhā'ulepū is a heritage landscape where it is possible to preserve and restore diverse and significant natural, scenic, cultural, archaeological, historic, scientific and recreational resources; and

WHEREAS, Māhā'ulepū is a living cultural landscape and a place sacred to many Native Hawaiians, particularly to those of the Kōloa area whose ancestral remains are buried at Māhā'ulepū; and

WHEREAS, it is in the economic and social interest of the State of Hawai'i to conserve its valuable natural and cultural resources and to create parks and preserves for the future; and

WHEREAS, the ahupua'a of Māhā'ulepū is directly adjacent to Kīpū Kai, an entire ahupua'a which is a future State land preserve; and

WHEREAS, the unique opportunity to apply the ahupua'a framework of care-taking and management of watersheds from mountain peak to the ocean exists at both Kīpū Kai and Māhā'ulepū; and

WHEREAS, the County of Kaua'i General Plan states that Māhā'ulepū needs a community-based planning effort that engages the landowner and local community interests, drawing upon the County government, the State Department of Land and Natural Resources, and various professional experts; and

WHEREAS, the County of Kaua'i has expressed its gratitude to the Grove Farm Company, Inc. for keeping Māhā'ulepū open to the public, both residents and visitors; and

WHEREAS, Governor Benjamin Cayetano has declared his support for preservation of Māhā'ulepū; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, that it supports a collaborative planning effort to explore options that would make it possible to preserve the irreplaceable natural and cultural resources of Māhā'ulepū, and to sustain the special experience of this place; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Honorable Benjamin J. Cayetano, Governor of the State of Hawai'i, the Honorable Mazie K. Hirono, Lieutenant Governor of the State of Hawai'i, the Honorable Maryanne W. Kusaka, Mayor of the County of Kaua'i, Members of the State Board of Land and Natural Resources, Members of the Council of the County of Kaua'i, and the President and Chief Operating Officer of Grove Farm Company, Inc.