Statewide Kaho'olawe meetings start next week
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
The draft for a five-year strategic plan for Kaho'olawe calls for increased fund raising to support the island's trust fund, creation of a Kihei information center on Maui, establishing an on-island manager and developing a procedure to transfer the reserve to a future Native Hawaiian sovereign entity.
The Kaho'olawe workshop schedule: Hilo — Wednesday, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Room 313, UH-Hilo Campus Center, 200 W. Kawili St. Kona — Next Thursday, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Hawai'i Police Department Conference Room, 74-5221 Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway, Kailua. Maui — Feb. 27, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Maui Waena Middle School cafeteria, 795 Onehe'e St., Kahului. Moloka'i — March 2, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Mitchell Pauole Center Conference Room, 90 'Ainoa St., Kaunakakai. Lana'i — March 3, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Lana'i Senior Center, Seventh Street, Lana'i City. Kaua'i — March 4, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Kaua'i Veterans Center Conference Room, 3125 Kapule Highway, Lihu'e. O'ahu — March 5, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Room 423, Hawai'i State Capitol, 415 S. Beretania St.
The Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission plan will be presented in a statewide series of workshops starting Wednesday.
Commission to begin workshops Wednesday
Stanton Enomoto, the commission's acting executive director, said yesterday that commissioners are hoping the public will help shape a working document called Draft Strategic Plan: 2004-2008 (Hanau hou he 'ula o Kaho'olawe — Rebirth of a Sacred Island).
Enomoto said the commission is trying to decide what its priorities should be, given the scope of its task and "the condition of the island and its surrounding waters, and the limitations of safety and money."
The commission is preparing to take control of the former Target Island following a 10-year, $400 million cleanup of unexploded ordnance.
The priorities established in the final plan will provide the direction to fulfill the commission's mission, Enomoto said, which is to provide for meaningful, safe use of Kaho'olawe for cultural practices and restoring the island and its waters.
Among the plan's action items are:
- To develop and maintain infrastructure, "including on-island and intra-island transportation, energy, communication, water, sanitation and Kihei information center."
- To increase the commission's $30 million trust fund by raising money through partnerships and grants.
- To develop an extensive volunteer base to help with restoration of cultural and natural resources.
- To develop and distribute educational materials about the island.
- To develop cultural orientation protocols to reinforce and re-establish the sacred geography of the island.
- To conduct an assessment of cultural sites, including stabilization needs, access and cultural use.
- To expand the scope of environmental restoration.
- To develop "an enforcement network" to protect the island and its waters from illegal, inappropriate and unsafe uses.
- To establish an on-island resident manager program.
- To develop a plan for the transition of the reserve to a future Native Hawaiian sovereign entity.
Those wishing to participate in the workshops may obtain a copy of the draft plan from the commission's Web site at www.kahoolawe.hawaii.gov or by calling the commission on Maui at (808) 243-5020, faxing (808) 243-5885, or e-mailing administrator@kirc.hawaii.gov.
