HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0258.019 1996-1998 7/z2/9J
To the County Council:
r~~'~_
As resident of Laupahoehoe I believe that.'leasin;4,400 acres
1
of county lands to New (,,ji Paper Company wo~~4 ~o~2br~Qt~.~-ice of
wisdom and fcresit~ht or. the part of the County ~u~cil, ~#~re are
COUN f Y Ur l 1AWAil
the reasons why I think this:
1) In an economically depressed area such as ours, it does not ,Bake
~ooci sense to lease out such large parcels for such a long period
of time to an outside corporation that has no connection. to
Hawaii :.nd no feelin,ms or resr~~onsibilities for the aina.
2) Eucalyptus farming, consicierin~; the acreage it uses, brings
relatively little money into our area and few jobs, By leasing
county lands to Gji we :ire ~lacin~r ourselves in a third world
position of exiortinrT raw, unYrocessec materials at a low price.
3) Ir, Hamakuz. we need to create family and community based enter-
prises that emr;loy peo,.le in meaning ful work grid that are
independent of any la.rf~e corporation,
4) These county lands are strategically located with respect to
the hiaThway which is our corridor for cou?merce. Hundreds of
thousands of tourists travel this hi!rhway each year, As a
hotel employee, I can assure you that they are looking for places
to stoY and they have e:oney to spend, 'vie would. be foolish t o
Frive these lands over to monoculture eucalyptus tree farms which
are of r,o interest to tourists. Beyond these hotel tourists
there are thousands more who are looking for hiking^, camping,
biking and cultural ex_~eriences of a different sort than can be
found in a mainstream hotel, Hamakua with its views, coastline,
streams, mountains and rural population is an excel]ent i;lace
for this type of small sc~~le ecotourism developmentt~t:zra. ila__ ~
:'1.:.-~. 2 2. 1897 .
5) Finally, I would like to say that i>ishop estate is already
turning prime a?;riculi,ural lands into eucalyptuo Plantations.
Once put into euc:=lyptus these larris .ire Yw.;.ir;ally lost forever
when it cores to growing food. Bringing back old cane land is one
challenge, br•inginF; back land that is coverea with tree stumps
or lame eucalyptus after Gji ~.nd Prudential have gone on t„heir
way is probably nearly impossible and certainly difficult. Let
us aY. least pr~ave our county and state lands so that they most
benefit the ~;eople who live here now, as well as their descendants.
In cl~.-isin~:, please remember that your decision will affect several
?eneratimnr to come and not ;;!ust those of us presntly living.
Thank you,
l~icole Tergeoglou
F.G. Box 35
Laupahoehoe 96764