OHA updates trustees on Kukaniloko master plan, REPI grant and agricultural due diligence

Laurie Walker, interim land director for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, briefed the committee on March 5 on implementation steps for the Wahiawa lands surrounding the Kukaniloko birthstones and on community stewardship partnerships that have advanced vegetation and education efforts.

Walker reminded trustees that the board approved the conceptual master plan (CMP) for the 511-acre property in 2018 and that implementation is guided by prior documents including a traditional and cultural practices report and the conservation easement inherited with the property. She said management authority over the five acres that contain the birthstones was transferred to OHA by gubernatorial executive order in 2020.

Walker described four programmatic outcomes that emerged from the planning process: an education continuum to support intergenerational cultural training; a vegetation continuum focused on soil remediation, invasive-species removal and native reforestation; a "hub-and-spoke" model linking Kukaniloko to other lands and resources; and integrated programming to combine cultural, educational and agricultural work.

Community partners have already led implementation work, Walker said. The Hawaiian Civic Club of Wahiawa has staged community events and a "Thousand Trees for Kukaniloko" sponsorship project; the University of Hawaiʻi College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and the community nonprofit Aina Kaiʻulu have together implemented native-plant plots, a 108-tree experimental coconut grove with multiple varieties and soil remediation trials. Kahealani Acosta Herbachek, a site steward representing Aina Kaiʻulu, told the committee she has led planting since 2019 and that her group has welcomed more than 700 visitors and planted nearly 5,000 native and indigenous plants with an estimated 98% survival rate.

Walker said OHA applied for and received the first-year award under the federal Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program: "Early last year, the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Grant announced that we were awarded the first year of funding in the amount of $2,200,000," she said. The award will support a five-year native reforestation, agroforestry, seed production and invasive species management project to advance the vegetation continuum.

As part of refining the 2018 CMP, Walker said OHA engaged the University of Hawaiʻi Community Design Center to produce a 2024 proof of concept. The updated site plan shifts most built infrastructure to a northwest Zone 1 (intended to keep visitor traffic away from the birthstones), reserves a central Zone 2 for protection and cultural programming around the stones, and focuses specialized agriculture in Zone 3. Walker said staff will undertake formal agricultural due diligence to evaluate models (agroforestry, traditional cultivation, conventional agriculture, greenhouse operations), infrastructure requirements (water, roads, drainage, electrical), costs, market demand and business plan viability.

Water is a central feasibility issue. Walker said the property lacks a permanent on-site water source; OHA staff and partners are examining a potential allocation of R-1 (reclaimed) well water conveyed by an Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC) pipeline that would run across or alongside OHA land. She said ADC is planning an R-1 expansion that includes a pipeline across the property and that OHA would need to build storage and conveyance infrastructure to use the water; funding for the pipeline design was stated to be pending before the legislature as a CIP request. Trustees raised cultural-protection questions about any ground disturbance in the birthstone area; Walker said OHA's compliance office has recommended ADC complete required historic-preservation plans and that OHA will continue consultation with stakeholders.

Public testifiers praised stewardship and urged continued investment. Kahealani Acosta Herbachek highlighted community involvement and the site's demonstration of successful rain-fed plantings and food production with limited resources. Farmer Daniel Anthony urged OHA to consider activating agricultural lands and inventorying coconut trees to guard against threats such as the coconut rhinoceros beetle and to develop seed-bank potential.

Walker said next steps include completing the agricultural due diligence, further coordinating with ADC on water access options, continuing stewardship partnerships and returning to the board with an updated CMP and site plan for approval once analyses are complete.