RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Ahu o Laka is a sandbar located in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, that is of historical and cultural significance; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes Ahu o Laka as a site of historical and cultural significance that should be preserved in a manner with which reflects the values as well as the cultural worth that the host culture embodies; and

WHEREAS, Ahu o Laka should be regarded and treated as a place of immense cultural value by all those who visit there; and

WHEREAS, there are various accounts of the Hawaiian history of the site; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that misuse and abuse of Ahu o Laka has resulted in the desecration of a culturally significant site and the degradation of an important esthetical resource of the State; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature further recognizes that unacceptable behavior has occurred at Ahu o Laka including excessive noise, public drunkenness, littering and physical altercations; and

WHEREAS, public testimony before the 2006 Legislature on SB2004, Relating to Historic Preservation, indicated support allowing public use of Ahu o Laka and regulation of the site for commercial activity and any large gatherings that may be disruptive and pose sanitation and safety concerns; and

WHEREAS, future public use of Ahu o Laka should be reasonable and responsible and in accordance with the demeanor that one would use when in an area of significant Hawaiian cultural value; and

WHEREAS, the authority of the Department of Land and Natural Resources to regulate Ahu o Laka is complicated by the fact that executive order no. 532, signed on May 7, 1932, states that Ahu o Laka is set aside "as a Reservation for the protection of bird, animal and vegetable life…," in other words, at that time when Ahu o Laka was an emerged vegetated island that had nesting seabirds; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is requested to create a task force to assess the status of Ahu o Laka and report to the legislature regarding:

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources is requested to select a task force member from each of the following groups:

(1) The native Hawaiian community;

(2) The marine and environmental community;

(3) The boating and fishing community; and

(4) The Kaneohe Bay community; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Administrator of the State Historic Preservation Division or the Administrator's designee is requested to serve as a member of the task force. The Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, or the Chairperson's designee is requested to serve as a member and chairperson of the task force; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2007; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, the Administrator of the State Historic Preservation Division, the Kahalu`u Neighborhood Board, the Ko‘olaupoko and Kualoa-He‘eia Hawaiian Civic Clubs, the Director of the University of Hawaii’s Hawaii Institute for Marine Biology and the President of the Kaneohe Bay Yacht Club.

Report Title:

Ahu o Laka; Kaneohe Bay; Department of Land and Natural Resources