LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Residents who keep cabins at Koke'e State Park on Kaua'i will be able to stay there for at least another 20 years under a bill approved by the 2008 Legislature, meaning most of the cabins won't open to the public.

The measure attempts to end a fight between the cabin dwellers and the state, which wanted to force them to give up their exclusive use of cabins built on public land now that their land leases are running out.

Only about two dozen vacant lots in Kaua'i's mountainous interior will be put up for auction. People occupying about 120 leased lots will be able to negotiate new leases for at least 20 years with the state at fair market value.

"Another community in Hawai'i is preserved," said Frank Hay, president of the Koke'e Leaseholders Association.

Some Kaua'i residents who had wanted a chance to bid on the public land don't see it that way. Many had wanted at least half of the cabins to become available.

The parcels hold cabins that in many cases have been used as getaway retreats by the leaseholders for generations. They can be used only as second homes and can't be rented out as vacation rentals.

Many of the cabins qualify for historical designation.

Leases on the cabin sites signed in 1985 stated that they would be turned over to the state in 2005, according to the state.

Cabin leaseholders sued the state in 2006 when the state moved to auction the cabins. The cabin residents argued that although they leased the land underneath the cabins, they owned, developed and paid taxes on the cabins themselves.