Celebrating the 2% Land Fund Successes By Mālielani Larish
Innovations Public Charter School students help restore Hylaeus bee habitat at ÿOÿoma in North Kona. photo courtesy of the Kohanaiki ÿohana
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KeOlaMagazine.com | March - April 2020
Hawaiian yellow-faced bee zips through the air like a flash of black lightning, attracted to the fragrant white flower of the endemic maiapilo shrub. On this weekday morning, the shoreline of ‘O‘oma in North Kona is blissfully deserted save for the resident flora and fauna. Thanks to dedicated community organizing and the 2% Land Fund, which is powered by setting aside 2% of Hawai‘i County’s real property taxes each year, this parcel of coastline will remain in its natural state in perpetuity. Since voters first approved the measure in 2006, the 2% Land Fund has acted like a superhero, partnering with State and Federal funding sources, nonprofit groups, and community members to save natural areas of significant cultural, historical, and environmental value from development. Thus far, the 2% Land Fund, which is officially titled the Public Access Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission (PONC) Fund, has preserved 7,500 acres on Hawai‘i Island. The public can nominate lands to be considered for purchase through an online suggestion form, and PONC produces an annual report which describes and ranks a prioritized list of the nominated properties before making recommendations to the mayor. Debbie Hecht, Kona resident and campaign manager for the Save Our Lands Citizens’ Committee that worked to place the original 2% Land Fund measure on the ballot in 2006, says that she and Council Member Brenda Ford co-wrote 10 the legislation for the 2% Land Fund and Maintenance Fund Charter Amendment.
“We wrote the Maintenance Fund with the intention of empowering the nonprofits,” Debbie says, referring to the 501c3 groups of community volunteers that already put their money, time, and sweat into mālama ‘āina: caring for—and in many cases improving—each of the PONC acquisitions. Nonprofit groups in Ka‘ū, North Kohala, Kona, and Honoka‘a are actively working to steward these treasured lands. Ka‘ū The largest acquisitions in terms of acreage have occurred in Ka‘ū, where the County acquired Kāwā, Kahua Olohu, and Kahuku. Matching funding from the State Legacy Land Conservation Program and support from the Trust for Public Land and US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Recovery Land Acquisition Program made these purchases possible. According to Debbie, using 2% Land Fund monies in order to secure matching funding represents one of the fund’s best uses. In 2008 and again in 2011, the County purchased several parcels in the Hīlea and Ka‘alāiki ahupua‘a, preserving a fourmile stretch of coast that includes Ke‘eku Heiau and a popular surfing beach at Kāwā Bay. In addition, these properties protect habitat used by critically endangered Hawaiian hawksbill sea turtles and Hawaiian monk seals. Hawai‘i Wildlife Fund’s (HWF) work to restore the estuary at Kāwā using a Maintenance Fund grant award illustrates the importance of stewardship work on PONC acquisitions. Over 276 participants, about half of whom were kids, helped to remove 2,000 pounds of invasive paspalum grass that