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Mahalo to EVERYONE who came out to make their voice heard on proposed changes to rules governing conservation and coastal lands in Hawai`i.

On relatively short notice, nearly 700 individuals and 34 organizations representing thousands more put down their name to tell the Lingle Administration and DLNR, “Hey, not so fast!” on these proposed rules rollbacks.

As you know, the proposed rollbacks affect over 2 million acres of lands, 51% of the “ceded” lands trust, as well as all public trust waters, reefs and ocean in Hawai’i nei.

Now, a new version of the proposed rules has just been released. Thanks to you — and your attendance at the hearings, your written comments, and your letters to the editor — we are at least seeing a final draft of the proposed rules with more than six days’ notice. (Six days is all that is required!) MAHALO!!!

It looks like the final rules will be heard and voted on by the Land Board in November (either Nov. 12th or 22nd). You can find the final draft of the rules and a general letter from Sam Lemmo here: http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/occl/documents-forms/proposed-13-5-amendments

We are continuing to analyze this final draft, but on first read, it looks like many of the most dangerous proposals have been taken out. This would not have been possible without so many coming to the table to take collective action in defense of conservation lands in Hawai’i nei.

That said, there is still work to be done! We continue to have serious concerns about some of the rollbacks being proposed and strongly believe that the process for these rule changes has been improperly rushed. It is important that we continue to make our voices heard.

As soon as we know the date and time of the hearing, we’ll let you know.

What can you do in the mean time? Please tell your family and friends about this issue and ask them to click-and-send testimony to the Land Board.

More resources:
- Action Page on the KAHEA website – http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2699/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4660
- Great piece in the Honolulu Weekly by Rob Parsons – Read “DLNRn’t“
- Op-ed in the Star-Advertiser by Jon Osorio and Vicky Holt-Takamine – Read Op-ed
- Fact Sheet: http://tiny.cc/conservationlands

If you’ve ever been witness to a bulldozer in a wahi pana, or seen a poorly planned and damaging development, you know why these kinds of protections are so important! Please take the time to ask your friends and family to stand with you in defense of our conservation districts. Mahalo for making a difference for Hawai’i nei!

Here’s the latest scoops on the “Farms, Not Dumps” Campaign to protect Lualualei Valley agricultural land in the Waianae moku from being rezoned to industrial. The Land Use Commission (LUC) is holding a series of hearings before they decide on the rezoning of this farmland into a “purple spot” industrial zone.

From Shelley:

We were happy that we were able to get the hearing moved to Kapolei as Honolulu is unfairly far for Wai`anae residents to trek during work hours. Unfortunately the room in Kapolei was tiny, just like the one on Beretania Street.  The room was literally overflowing into the hallway to accommodate all those who came to participate.

The testimony was solid–by my count, we had about 15 of our guys testify, with only 4 people testifying in support of the project.  We delievered an amazing stack of petitions, with 1,001 of your names saying NO to the proposed industrial park! Special mahalo to everyone who came out and testified.  Candace Fujikane took everyone by surprise with awesome blown up maps and interesting testimony on how unirrigated land is given “unproductive” ratings, but when irrigated, can jump up to a B-classification (the second highest!).  My favorite part though was when the developer’s attorney was really aggressively asking Candace questions, and she stood her ground! He asked given her testimony “Do you know if the parcel has irrigation?” and she said, “No, but your report is requesting the use of 22,000 gallons a day, and that could be used for farming.” ZING! Bet he didn’t think she did her homework on that. We also had hilarious testimony from Aunty Georgiette Meyers who talked about the fight in the ’80s to protect this same parcel from the development of a golf course.  That was when the Higa farmers were essentially pushed out because they couldn’t afford the raised rent. She made the important point that they stopped farming, not because the land is unproductive, (in fact they produced 3,000 crates of veggies a month!) but because they were made to stop.

Mahalo pumehana to all who came out! It was an incredible, inspiring and amazing day!

From our friends and ‘ohana at Sierra Club Hawai’i Chapter:

In a 7-1 vote last week, the State of Hawaii Land Use Commission approved Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii, Inc.’s proposed reclassification 767 acres of farmland to the urban district. Castle & Cooke proposes to build thousands of new homes and a medical complex at Koa Ridge between Mililiani and Waipio.

The Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, as a party to the case, asked the Commission to deny the reclassification because the project would adversely impact an already congested highway and prime agricultural lands.

“Castle & Cooke’s plan for Koa Ridge is the epitome of urban sprawl,” said Robert D. Harris, Director of the Hawaii Chapter of the Sierra Club. “When we’re importing 85 to 90% of our state’s food, it’s absurd to pave over land that has been consistently and profitably providing food for O`ahu.“

The Sierra Club brought expert witnesses before the Commission earlier in the year that testified about the detrimental impacts of losing nearly 800 acres of some of the best farmland in the state. Even Castle & Cooke’s own expert noted that the Koa Ridge proposal would develop approximately 5% of O`ahu’s remaining prime farmland (soil rated “A” and “B” under the ALISH system). The State Department of Agriculture testified that fifty percent of O`ahu’s prime farmland had been paved over in the past fifty years.

“Diversified agriculture increased 475% between 1990 and 2004,” said Harris. “There has been a resurgence of interest in eating in a local and sustainable manner. But if we want further growth in agriculture, we need to have the farmland.”

There are other anticipated demands on farmland, like growing bioenergy, which will require thousands of acres of farmlands with a ready supply of irrigable water. “It’s a slippery slope,” Harris continued.  “As we develop more agricultural land, it drives up the cost for the remaining parcels and makes it more difficult for other farmers to grow local.”

One knowledgeable scientist testified that University of Hawaii faculty researchers are concerned O`ahu will lose its capability to feed itself unless large farmlands like Koa Ridge were preserved. “We’re just one hurricane away from starving,” said Harris.  “We’re dangerously reliant on food from being shipped into O`ahu. Preserving and growing agriculture in the State is a matter of basic food security.”

Other witnesses testified about the surplus of land already proposed for development in Central O`ahu and the negative impact of increased traffic on folks traveling along the H-1 corridor. The state’s traffic expert testified that the peak “rush hour” traffic could extend bottlenecks on the H-1 freeway potentially from as early as 5:00 am in the morning and similar hours in the evening.  The H-1 already has a grade “F” designation, the worst service traffic level.

The Sierra Club believes that the housing demand can be met without sprawling on more agricultural lands in Central O`ahu. Existing urban areas in Central O`ahu, such as Wahiawa and Waipahu, should be redeveloped. Further, over 13,000 units of housing have already been approved on over 1500 acres of agricultural land for new growth in Central O`ahu. Although the developer claims that new land must be developed to meet growing demand, population in some surrounding Central O`ahu communities actually decreased between 1990 and 2000.

“O`ahu is hitting some real limits to growth. We need to start redeveloping built areas instead of paving our finite and precious farmlands,” said Harris. “Particularly with plans for over 13,000 new housing units already on the books for Central O`ahu, it’s outrageous that the Commission would authorize new development of the best agricultural lands in the state.”

For more information, you can check out Sierra Club on the web at http://www.sierraclubhawaii.com/media.php

And here’s coverage from back in May of part of the LUC hearing on Koa Ridge: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2010/May/21/bz/hawaii5210320.html

Big MAHALO to Christen Marquez for hosting a screening of Na Maka o Ka Aina‘s Mauna Kea: Temple Under Siege film. Christen is herself a film maker and Miwa met her on a trip to LA while giving a presentation on what’s been going on Mauna a Wakea.  Check out Christen’s facebook page with info about her film here.  Check out her blog for more about the screening.  Mahalo to everyone who came out to learn more and to  all who signed the petition.  It’s awesome to know we have hoa aina across the big blue sea.

If you are interested in holding a screening of your own, please email me at  shelley@kahea.org.

They came for our taro. Is it any surprise that fish is next on the list? Today, federal officials in the U.S. are considering approval of the first genetically modified fish. GMO-salmon. Ick.

Salmon are sacred. It’s time to show our solidarity for indigenous peoples, first nations, and fishing and nearshore communities the world over. We’re a fish and poi culture, and we’ve got to be concerned about genetic modification of native species. Genetic modification is a part of a broken industrial food system that just doesn’t work. It isn’t serving communities, farmers, fishers, or consumers. We want sovereignty… over what’s on our plates. And we’re saying no to untested, unlabeled GMO foods.

From our friends at Food and Water Watch:

Franken-Fish have won the race to be the first genetically engineered animal approved for human consumption. The aquaculture industry has genetically engineered a fish that grows at twice the normal rate, so they can get it to market sooner and make more money.

The scary thing is, the FDA doesn’t do its own testing of genetically engineered animals, it relies on information provided by the company that wants approval. And because GE salmon are being considered as a new animal drug, the process isn’t focused on what happens to people who eat genetically engineered animals. So on top of the health concerns posed by raising salmon in crowded factory fish farms that rely on antibiotics and other chemicals, the FDA could be adding the unknown risks of GE salmon to the mix.

The FDA is the same agency that’s in charge of overseeing the egg industry, and we see how well they’ve done that job. The FDA does not have the capacity to ensure the safety of food that is not genetically engineered, they certainly should not be in charge of allowing the first GE animal into our food supply.

We’ve got just 12 days until the FDA takes formal steps to approve GE salmon, so it’s up to us to demand that President Obama direct the FDA to reject this request.

Take action to stop this mutant fish from reaching your plate:
http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4693

(Illustration at top is by the talented Glenn Jones at threadless.com. His GE Salmon shirt is now sold out!)

We attended the Honolulu scoping meeting on the Navy’s planned expansion of sonar and underwater munitions testing and training activities two weeks ago. We’re still working on processing the information and our thoughts about the process. In the meantime, we thought we’d share these thoughts from Uncle Jim on Moku o Keawe about their experience in Hilo:

From Uncle Jim Albertini:

Tonight’s (8/26/10) EIS Scoping Meeting on Navy expansion plans for Hawaii and the Pacific was more hardball than the Marines similar meeting of 2 days ago. (Then again, at the Marines meeting we had retired Marine Sergeant Major, Kupuna Sam Kaleleiki, to open the path with a pule and the initial public testimony.)

The Navy EIS personnel weren’t nearly as respectful of the right to public speaking and the community being able to hear each others concerns.  Some of the Navy team were downright arrogant, insulting and contemptuous.  Initially the Navy wasn’t going to allow us to bring our portable sound system into the Hilo H.S. cafeteria to hold a citizen public hearing.  Finally with police presence brought in, the Navy yielded the last hour of the planned 4-8PM event to our citizen hearing.

Some of the Navy EIS team were blatantly rude in not listening to community speakers and carried on their own conversations.  Before the public testimony, we invited all present to join hands in a pule and asked for mutual respect, and open minds and hearts.

The Navy refused to have any of their personnel take notes to make the public comments part of the official record of scoping concerns.  Community people were very respectful of the Navy personnel as human beings, but the aloha spirit wasn’t returned by many of the Navy people present.  Too bad.

Many of the Navy people were hard set to their format. Tour the science fair stations, and  If you wanted to comment, put it in writing or type it into a computer.  We were told over and over.  This is not a public hearing. No public speaking is allowed.