STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3657

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.C.R. No. 162

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 162 entitled:

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS FOR STEWARDSHIP AND PRESERVATION OF WAIPI‘O VALLEY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to request that the Waipi‘o Valley Stakeholders Alliance coordinate with the Bishop Museum, Kamehameha Schools, Friends of the Future, County of Hawai‘i, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Trust For Public Land, State of Hawai‘i, and other interested parties who may be invited by the Waipi‘o Valley Stakeholders Alliance to provide their guidance and mana‘o regarding the future preservation and stewardship of Waipi‘o Valley.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Aha Moku Advisory Committee and one individual.

     Your Committee finds that Waipi‘o Valley is a revered wahi pana, or sacred place, on the island of Hawaii and has served as a cultural and demographic center for the Native Hawaiian culture for many centuries, housing precious resources including multiple heiau, an extensive taro lo‘i and auwai system, fishponds, burial sites, ocean culture, and incomparable scenic beauty.  Your Committee further finds that the Bishop Museum has owned and managed five hundred thirty-seven acres of Waipi‘o Valley property, representing approximately sixty percent of the valley floor, for the past one hundred thirty years and has publicly announced its intent to sell its interest in order to enable the museum to move forward with a new strategic management plan.  The Waipi‘o Valley Stakeholders Alliance is fully committed to take the lead on stewardship efforts to transition the Bishop Museum lands and is currently working with many stakeholders, community leaders from groups who have experienced similar situations, and others who have expertise in land acquisition and land management to identify possible options that will ensure that Bishop Museum can remain solvent and continue its important work caring for Hawai‘i's cultural treasures, while at the same time honoring Waipi‘o Valley's past, present, and future to ensure that the land remains in the hands of the Waipi‘o families as it has for centuries.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     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 concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 162, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 162, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture,

________________________________

MIKE GABBARD, Chair