When the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs stepped forward to help protect Waimea Valley in 2006, they did so knowing that this was more than just "land banking." The trustees knew this meant accepting kuleana — financial, cultural, and ecological — for this special place.

Trustees recognized this substantial land acquisition as another step in the journey toward Hawaiian self-determination; a step that would require new partnerships and strategic orientation in order to succeed.

OHA's announcement on Friday to create a limited liability corporation to oversee management of Waimea Valley is another step in this journey.

As we take this next step we first remind ourselves of why we are traveling down this path in the first place: Waimea is a particularly important wahi pana (sacred place) in our islands. Just as the beauty of Waimea is clear on the walk from the bay to Waihi Falls, the cultural importance of this valley is evident in its history. For 800 years, Waimea Valley was home to a line of kahuna nui ending with the high priest Hewahewa, a spiritual adviser to Kamehameha the Great. During this period, ancient heiau like Pu'u O Mahuka (O'ahu's largest heiau, located on the Pupukea Ridge overlooking Waimea), Hale 'O Lono, and Kupopolo were established.

But just as beautiful as Waimea is, it has also been just as threatened.

Beginning with the Mahele that created private land ownership, the cultural and natural resources of Waimea were compromised by commercial activities ranging from cattle ranching to poorly-thought-out tourism. While changes have been distressing to many over the years, it was only in 2005 when there was a plan to subdivide and build luxury homes in the valley that community leadership insisted on a new course for this ahupua'a.

At that point, OHA, along with partners (the City and County of Honolulu, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, Gov. Linda Lingle, the Legislature, the Trust for Public Land and the U.S. Army), contributed funds toward the $14 million purchase price, saving it from the threat of development.

Ownership requires stewardship, and when OHA took title in June 2006 we believed we had a great steward and partner standing with us. We immediately began negotiating a lease with National Audubon Society, which had been operating in the valley since 2003.

After months of complex negotiations, in January of 2007 Audubon informed us that it did not want to continue managing the valley. Hence, OHA began the new path of negotiating a transitional lease, as well as determining how best to malama Waimea in future years.

Our announcement on Friday that we filed papers to form Hi'ilei Aloha LLC is the first critical step toward assuming Waimea Valley operations. Hi'ilei Aloha, which means to "carry, care for and nurture lovingly," appropriately characterizes OHA's plans for the ahupua'a. Hi'ilei Aloha will create a nonprofit subsidiary that will run the daily operations of Waimea Valley with an eye toward the subsidiary taking over management from Audubon in February 2008.

OHA believes this is the best path for Waimea, OHA, and our beneficiaries. OHA considered three main options for Waimea: finding another "Audubon" to manage the valley, managing the valley directly ourselves with OHA employees, or creating a special entity to manage it. In the end, we found that creating a separate, private company was the most prudent way to responsibly manage the valley while providing a level of protection for OHA's trust assets.

We also believe that the particular corporate form we have chosen — a wholly owned, single member, manager-managed LLC, with managers who are also OHA employees — strikes the best balance for the valley. The OHA trustees retain ultimate control and will give overall policy direction for Waimea, but day to day decisions will not be made in Honolulu but at Waimea, right there in the local community.

This approach is also consistent with the larger strategy for land that our trustees have publicly considered this year and adopted as formal board policy. This is not however about a "Plan B" strategy to shield OHA assets in general in light of the Akaka bill, as was suggested in a previous editorial.

Helping us lead this effort, Gary Gill has been named as a project manager for Hi'ilei Aloha and is slated to become the executive director of the subsidiary that will run Waimea.

Gill's long career in public service, his environmental activism and his work at Kokua Kalihi Valley establishing a 100-acre nature park in Kalihi that included several Hawaiian cultural sites makes him the best candidate for the job. His family's long connection to the Islands and his immediate family's connection to the North Shore demonstrate his understanding for what is needed to protect this place.

In the next few months, Gill will be talking with Waimea employees, learning the operations and setting up a plan for going forward. OHA is committed to working with all interested stakeholders in this process, and we hope their support, which has taken us this far, will continue.

He ali'i ka 'aina, he kaua ke kanaka: Land is the chief, people are the stewards.

Haunani Apoliona is chairwoman of the Board of Trustees for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Clyde Namu'o is OHA’s administrator. They wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.