Senate Democrats say they will stand behind six families being evicted from Kahana Valley and want to work with the state to resolve issues that would allow them to remain on the land to which they have ancestral ties.

Speaking at a Capitol press conference today, Senate President Colleen Hanabusa said specifically what lawmakers want to do is extend a law that gave authority to the Department of Land and Natural Resources to award leases in the valley.

The attorney general's office said in March that the law had expired and that no new leases could legally be issued. DLNR chairwoman Laura H. Thielen cited the opinion in ordering the families to vacate the valley by Monday.

But the eviction deadline came and went without any action, and Thielen yesterday extended the deadline by a week.

The families have vowed to defy the eviction order.

Hanabusa said today she hopes the DLNR will delay the evictions further until lawmakers can work out something in the Legislature.

Deborah Ward, spokeswoman for the DLNR, said the department will not delay the eviction because there's no guarantee that a bill would pass.

"The Legislature has tried three times to pass a bill and not succeeded," Ward said, adding that in any case the residents would have to move because they are in an area of the park that was meant for public use.

Thielen will be meeting with the families tomorrow afternoon to explain transitional housing options that the department can provide, Ward said.