Six families and their Senate supporters might go to court to stop the state from evicting the families from the Kahana Valley, a state senator said yesterday.

Kahana Valley And Lawmakers Not Agreeing

 

Six families from Kahana Valley and DLNR Chair Laura Thielen both say that they will not budge, continuing to hold their ground.

 

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  The stance set the stage for a confrontation with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which is standing firm that the families must leave Ahupuaa o Kahana State Park.

Sen. Clayton Hee (D, Kahuku-Kaneohe) said lawyers could seek injunctive relief or a temporary restraining order. They might also sue the state for negotiating in bad faith with the families regarding residential leases that would have allowed them to stay, he said.

Hee asked groups like the Hawaii State Teachers Association and the Hawaii Government Employees Association to donate money to a legal defense fund for the families.

“;If the state carries out its intentions, money will be necessary to bail people out of jail, money will be necessary to defend their rights to tenancy on the land,”; Hee said.

Senate leaders hope they will resolve the situation without resorting to the courts.

The state has owned the 5,280-acre valley since 1970, when it bought the land from the Mary Foster Estate. The state acquired Kahana Valley to protect it from development.

In 1986 it issued leases to 31 families with ancestral ties to the land who had been living there. Most had been tenants of the Foster estate.

The state has been running the valley as a “;living park”; since then. The tenants pay no rent but must spend 25 hours each month offering “;interpretive services,”; or explaining the history and culture of the valley to the public.

The six families threatened with eviction also have ancestral ties to the land but do not have leases.

The state land department had been ready to force the families out this week but held off after the families protested.

Department Director Laura Thielen said she would not say when the evictions would be carried out until she meets the families face to face today.