A decision by O'ahu voters three years ago to use a portion of county property tax revenues to purchase land or easements for conservation is about to produce initial results involving as much as 5,700 acres on the Island.

Six applicants are seeking some of the fund's first distributions. They include plans to:

&bull Save a Waimea ranch from a gentleman's farm residential subdivision;

&bull Block a luxury beachfront home development in Kahuku and;

&bull Keep former Central O'ahu pineapple fields in agriculture.

The proposals, all from nonprofit groups, have applied to spend $6.75 million of the $8 million available in the fund, and would use matching funds to acquire $24.8 million in land or easements from willing sellers.

The Clean Water and Natural Lands Fund represents a new effort at environmental protection on O'ahu that is expected to be continued with new proposals annually competing to tap the regenerating fund.

There is little danger that the fund could be raided to help the city balance its budget during these times of economic constraint because the fund was created by voters approving a charter amendment, advocates say.

The Clean Water and Natural Lands Fund was approved in 2006 by a 122,231 to 86,067 vote among O'ahu residents. The vote amended the City Charter to dedicate 1 percent of annual property tax revenues to funds for land conservation and affordable housing.

The 1 percent figure is split between the two efforts, and has been accruing for two years. The half-percent for land conservation amounted to about $4 million in each of the last two years.

A commission overseeing the fund met yesterday to hear presentations by the applicants and public testimony. The commission is expected to make funding recommendations to the City Council at a meeting scheduled for Friday. The final decision will be made by the City Council, which could approve some, all or none of the projects.

Denise Antolini, director of the environmental law program at the University of Hawai'i law school, said it took a lot of hard work to decide how the commission would work, including establishing criteria for applications.

Antolini chairs the nine-person commission, whose members were appointed a year ago. Terms expire over the next three years.

PRESERVATION FUND

Generally, the fund is directed at efforts protecting the environment, including protection of watershed lands, historical or culturally significant areas, agriculture lands, forests, beaches and coastal areas.

The fund also can be used to protect significant habitats or ecosystems, reduce erosion or flooding, and improve public access to public land.

Another factor the commission and City Council weigh is whether an applicant is getting help from other sources to acquire property or a protective easement.

For the six initial applicants, money sought from the fund represents 2 percent to 57 percent of the anticipated purchase price.

"That's the smart, new way to do it," Antolini said. "It allows the city to support conservation in a new way. The potential is really enormous."

Antolini said the commission expects to solicit applications and disperse money annually, which will help bolster voluntary land conservation plans.

The environmental law professor said programs in Hawai'i that help landowners voluntarily sell their property or restrict use to protect land historically have lagged behind other states, though in the last five years significant ground has been gained.

Such programs differ from condemnation actions where the government typically finances an acquisition often from an unwilling seller.

Borrowing money or finding it in a state or county budget is especially hard in tough economic times, which makes it difficult to complete conservation projects such as Gov. Linda Lingle's plan to buy Turtle Bay Resort.

Some land conservation efforts similar to the new O'ahu project include funds on the Neighbor Islands, the state Legacy Land Conservation Program created by the Legislature in 2005, and state incentives to preserve important agricultural lands.

REVENUE SOURCES

The state Legacy Land fund gets about $4 million a year from a share of recently increased property conveyance taxes for high-value homes, and helps nonprofits and local government agencies buy private property.

The important agricultural lands program was passed last year by the Legislature, and provides several incentives to encourage farming such as tax credits and loan guarantees for landowners designating their land for perpetual agricultural use. A controversial piece of that program allows owners of prime agricultural land to convert 15 percent of their property for urban or rural use in return for dedicating the balance to perpetual farm use.

Robert Harris, director of the Sierra Club Hawai'i chapter, said it's especially important that efforts such as the state Legacy Land and city Clean Water and Natural Lands funds have dedicated revenue sources that are supported in tough economic times when the tendency can arise to cut such programs.

One such fund on the Big Island, he said, is in danger of being raided because it wasn't established by charter amendment.

"Now is a great time to go out and purchase land with prices down," he said. "It's a good acquisition strategy."