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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
156 |
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TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE GOVERNOR TO PROCLAIM THE SECOND SATURDAY IN OCTOBER OF EVERY YEAR AS E HO‘OLA I NA HELE DAy--give LIFE TO the TRAILS DAY.
WHEREAS, prior to 1778, native Hawaiians had a highly organized, self-sufficient social system based on subsistence agriculture and communal land tenure that relied on an elaborate trail system to access the mountains and the sea to fish, gather, cultivate crops, and to communicate with neighboring ahupua‘a tenants; and
WHEREAS, the trail system throughout the designated ahupua‘a played an important role in the perpetuation and practice of Hawaiian culture and lifestyle and was located laterally along the shorelines and mauka-makai between the uplands and the sea; and
WHEREAS, the safety and protection of all individuals using these trails were assured through a declaration by the sixteenth century O‘ahu ruler, Kuali‘i, and by the Mamalahoe law, otherwise known as the "Law of the Splintered Paddle," which was adopted by King Kamehameha I, the first king of Hawai‘i to establish a unified monarchial government of the Hawaiian islands; and
WHEREAS, the importance of the trail system was further recognized when the Kingdom of Hawai‘i passed the Highway Act of 1892, later codified in chapter 264, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes, establishing the people's right to use these trails for commerce and enjoyment; and
WHEREAS, article XII, section 7 of the Hawai‘i State Constitution; chapter 7 of the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes; and the Public Access Shoreline Hawai‘i v. Hawai‘i County Planning Commission, 70 Hawai‘i 246 (1991) decision, commonly referred to as the PASH decision, affirmed and upheld the right of native Hawaiians and the people of this State to use undeveloped land, which may include certain ancient and historic trails, to exercise traditional and cultural practices; and
WHEREAS, a statewide trail and access system known as Na Ala Hele was codified in 1998 in chapter 198D of the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes and a non-profit community advocacy group, E Mau Na Ala Hele, established in 1979 to preserve the Hawaiian trail systems, remains actively involved with the maintenance and perpetuation of the State's current shoreline and mountain trails; and
WHEREAS, federal recognition of the State's trails took place on January 24, 2000, when the United States Congress designated the Ala Kahakai Trail, which runs laterally around the island of Hawai‘i, as a national historic trail and was incorporated into the National Trails System Act (Public Law 106-509); and
WHEREAS, historic, state, and federal recognition of native trails help to ensure that native Hawaiians and all of the people of the State of Hawai‘i will have the right to use these public trails for access, enjoyment, recreation, commerce, and gathering purposes in accordance with applicable state and federal laws, now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the Senate concurring, that the Governor is requested to commemorate the Highway Act of 1892 by recognizing and proclaiming the second Saturday of October of every year as E Ho‘ola I Na Hele Day––Give Life to the Trails Day; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that these historic and vital statewide trails be recognized and commemorated in perpetuity; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Hawai‘i's congressional delegation, and to the Mayor and the Chairperson of the Council of each county.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Trails; Historic Preservation; E Ho‘ola I Na Hele Day