Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred H.B. No. 328 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to purchase development rights for agricultural lands in Wahiawa, Oahu.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs submitted testimony in support of this measure.

In 1992, the State purchased approximately five acres of land from the Galbraith trust and made it into a state historic monument. This five-acre property is just a portion of a much larger property with historical and cultural significance on the Wahiawa plateau.

Currently, the Galbraith trust is scheduled, by law, to dissolve in 2007, leaving the agricultural lands surrounding the state historic monument in jeopardy of being developed and negatively impacting the important cultural site.

Your Committee finds that the United States Department of Agriculture, through its Farmland Protection Program, provides money to public and private entities to acquire the development rights of agricultural lands that are prime, unique, or contain historical and archeological resources. The program requires the State to contribute a portion of the money to purchase the property. This measure appropriates the necessary moneys to cover the State's portion for the purchase of the Galbraith trust's agricultural lands.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 328, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.