Ranchers, hunters
protest native plan
for Puuwaawaa

A family wants to be stewards
when the state lease comes up

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By Rod Thompson
Star-Bulletin

HILO >> Kuulei Keakealani's extended family has lived at and near the dry North Kona lands of Puuwaawaa since at least the mid-1800s. For the past 100 years, whenever they wanted to visit family graves or cultural sites on the land, they had to ask permission of ranchers leasing the land from the territory and later the state.

A new proposal for the lease of 21,000 acres at Puuwaawaa would allow Keakealani's family and other Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians a direct say in managing the land for ranching, hunting, Hawaiian culture and conservation of numerous endangered plants and animals.

The nonprofit Ahahui o Puu Waawaa, of which Keakealani is a director, is proposing to the state Board of Land and Natural Resources to take over the lease of the area when the current lease expires in August.

"We would like to return and be stewards of the land," Keakealani told the Star-Bulletin.

Other officers of the group held a press conference yesterday.

Ahahui President Hannah Kihalani Springer, a former trustee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs with generations of family ties to the area, spoke of the need of endangered plants of the dry land to take in water and thrive.

Ahahui Vice President Chris Yuen added, "This is really the last chance for the dry-land forest."

But the Ahahui proposal was criticized from several quarters.

Ernest and Stephen DeLuz, who with Mikio Kato hold the current lease on Puuwaawaa, are asking the Land Board to continue that lease.

They said the Ahahui proposal is not compatible with theirs, since they need at least 1,000 cattle to run a viable ranch, and the Ahahui wants no more than 500, for control of non-native grasses.

Steve Araujo of the hunting organization Wildlife Conservation Association of Hawaii said his group is also proposing to take over the lease.

At the press conference, resident Wayne Hagar, who said he hunts on the land, accused Yuen of a conflict of interest because Yuen is also the Hawaii County planning director.

Yuen -- who worked on the proposal for several years before taking the county post in December -- said he believes the project needs only state permits, but if any come to his office, he will recuse himself from ruling on them.

Yuen said sustained, long-term hunting would be allowed at Puuwaawaa except for the most critical areas.

Responding to a complaint that sportsmen are losing hunting areas, Yuen said he testified to the Legislature in favor of a 63,000-acre state game-management area at Puuanahulu, bordering Puuwaawaa.