Finally, a dollar amount has replaced the question mark that defined what the state owes to Native Hawaiians from the money it makes on land formerly belonging to the Hawaiian kingdom.

That figure, $200 million in cash and real estate, will have lawmakers combing through the settlement deal inked Friday between the state and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Of course, they should pull out the fine-tooth comb. But from the initial unveiling, there seems little that should worry either side.

From the state's perspective, the $15.1 million annual payment for revenues from the ceded lands the state inherited in the overthrow roughly represents the status quo. That's about where it stood for several years before legal disputes turned off the cash-flow pipeline, and where it is currently. The deal would settle all past claims and disputes over back pay owed OHA.

Much of the properties being conveyed to OHA in the deal are not the state's big moneymakers. In a year when the state is cash poor, turning over land in lieu of money is a reasonable plan, especially if it buys an end to the series of costly disputes over payments.

OHA's critics charge that the agency turned down a much more lucrative deal in 1999, when the Cayetano administration sat at the negotiating table. However, said OHA attorney William Meheula, the state then was seeking a final, "global" settlement, which OHA trustees rightly resisted, preferring to leave the ultimate deal on ceded lands for a sovereign entity to negotiate.

This deal also suits OHA's aims to build a land base in anticipation that federal recognition legislation will give Native Hawaiians a measure of sovereignty they've been seeking. OHA is reorganizing, as it should, to make land management a greater part of its mission.

Beneficiaries who have questions about this deal should track the enabling legislation as it moves through the Capitol. And OHA must hear from those beneficiaries while devising how this property is to be used.

In the meantime, the settlement offers hope of a win-win for both the state and Hawaiians and a hiatus in the seemingly ceaseless court battles that benefit none of us.