Comm No 0021.112 - Testimony - CA-7 - PONC fund and Maintenance fund

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The North Koha a coastline has always been a place for fishing, gathering and recreation. But economic pressure is changing that. The story of Kohala's |ocaK community effort to protect its access to the ocean spans almost 50 years and engulfs many generations of people. What started in the 1970s as protests against the zoning of large resort developments has evolved into the purchase and conversion of hundreds of acres of private land to open space held for the benefit of the people. Miles of coastai trails have been opened officially for access across private land. And as a consequence, the stewardship of the coast and its many historical and cultural treasures has become a legal as well as a continuing volunteer activity. The 29 -mile coast was populated seven hundred years ago, but archaeologists are just beginning to understand the treasure trove of knowledge about early Hawaiian life on the undeveloped leeward coast and the northern coast, which was the homeland of Kamehameha the Great, Through the efforts of five Kohala community organizations in partnership with the County, State and Federal governments, two Hawaii land trusts and generous land owners, 390 acres of coastal land have been dedicated to open space in perpetuity during the last seven years. In addition to the donations of land ovvmers, the partners raised a total of $20.9 million to make the transfers happen. 11h1,1111n n, 1,1,11111111111 � m The County's 2% Open Space Fund and the States Legacy Land Preservation Program accounted for much of the funding. The Trust for Public Lands and Hawaiian |shamds Land Trust, as well as federal grants, added to that. Private donors pitched in. But it was the cooperative work of the Kohala groups that kept focus on the goals, stated cleariy in the North Kohala Community Development Plan, which was, and continues to be, the driving force. What's truly remarkable is that the accomplishments were achieved with all volunteer labor and little publicity. The five groups are Ma|amaNaWahiPana 0Kohala, led by Fred Cachola; Ka MakaniOKohala Ohana—��led by Kanoa Withington; Ma|amaKohala Kahakai,led byGail Byrne Baber; Maikal KamakaniOKohala, led by Stephanie Naihe Laxton, and the Kohala Historic and Cultural Preservation Group, led by the late Mike Isaacs. Together they have annually nominated Kohala lands to the County's Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Commission (PONC) priority list since 2006. The current 2017 list of nine properties around the island has six coastal projects in North Kohala. Also together they formed the non-profit corporation Kohala Lihikai, which has since its inception in 2012 stewarded many acres of land, with the vision of turning the entire coast into a recreational and educational resource for future generationsfresidemtsamdvisitors ' Comm. ~�No. 21.112