About 50,000 acres of Hawaiʻi farmland managed by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources are set to be transferred to the Department of Agriculture.
The move is two decades in the making.
“We're really happy because this just shows movement,” said Nicole Galase, the managing director for Hawaiʻi Cattlemen's Council.
“These releases, we understand that both DLNR and DOA have agreed to transfer. But it's taken years for it to happen,” she said. “They had both identified them for transfer, but the movement just hadn't happened yet.”
This week the Board of Agriculture approved the transfer of about 20,000 acres of mostly pasture land, covering dozens of farming operations. The rest, another 30,000 acres, are in the process of moving after both departments approved the transfer in August.
A state law known as Act 90, which was passed in 2003, allowed about 100,000 acres of DLNR farmland in pasture to move to the agriculture department.
But prior to this year, only 19,000 acres of that land had actually been transferred over.
The law requires the boards of both departments to agree on the transfers, however, they haven’t been able to agree on which parcels to move.
That’s because both have had equal claim to the land.
Promotion of farming
For years, ranchers and their supporters have complained about the DLNR’s inability to promote farming compared to the agriculture department.
The DLNR’s leasing abilities force many ranchers to occupy land on short-term revocable permits, which discourages ranchers from long-term planning and infrastructure improvements. Additionally, the DLNR can’t match the affordable leasing opportunities offered by the DOA.
Many ranchers are also concerned about the DLNR’s commitment to non-agriculture missions. The department has a duty to encourage not just farming but environmental conservation, cultural preservation and even recreation.
It has withdrawn land from pasture leases that it deems valuable for some of these other purposes.
However, the DLNR and environmental advocates say the non-agricultural value of some of that land is exactly why they should stay within the department.
“Some of these areas do have these other values, and while they might not be important from an agricultural perspective, they're very important for society here in Hawaiʻi because they have these forests, these endangered species, these watershed values,” said Emma Yuen, the DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife native ecosystems program manager.
Yuen said the parcels should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The state Legislature in 2021 formed a working group on Act 90 that said as much.
Changes to leadership
Most of the increased collaboration between the DLNR and DOA this year can be attributed to the departments’ new leadership. When Gov. Josh Green took office, he brought with him DOA Chair Sharon Hurd and DLNR Chair Dawn Chang, who have expedited the Act 90 process.
Earlier this year both chairs said they would expedite the Act 90 process.
“It's long overdue, but getting the confirmation from Chair Hurd, seeing her and Dawn Chang, the chair of DLNR, diligently working on getting more transfers is a healthy, healthy start,” said BOA member Jimmy Gomes.
But that goodwill is likely to be tested. The remaining farmland parcels that can be moved are likely even more valuable to the DLNR.
Even the 20,000 acres that the agricultural board approved this week still need approval from the land board.
But Hurd believes the Act 90 process will continue, possibly for the foreseeable future.
“As lands with potential for ag production become available — I'm talking about schools, or let's say a golf course closes, these properties have potential for ag production — they will be moving over to from DLNR to DOA,” Hurd said.
“In my opinion, Act 90 really doesn't have a sunset date," she said.
