More than 7,000 acres of pastureland on the Big Island has been transferred from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to the Department of Agriculture.
Under a 2003 law, Act 90, lands classified for agricultural use by the DLNR can be transferred to the DOA with the mutual consent of both agencies. Although the two departments had rarely done so for the first two decades after the law’s passage, more recent administrations have been more open to the transfers, with more than 25,000 acres of Ka‘u pastureland changing hands last year.
On Friday, the Board of Land and Natural Resources, approved the transfer of 7,027 acres of land managed by nine lease holders and 25 revocable permit holders around the island. The majority of that land is leased to Parker Ranch, accounting for 4,529 acres.
Another five acres are leased to Volcano Island Honey Co. for apiary purposes.
Lessees and other stakeholders testified in support of the measure. Nicole Galase of the Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council wrote that the lease terms of the DOA are more favorable to the lessee than the DLNR terms, which will help support the island’s flagging ranching industry.
“1.1 million acres of the state’s land was in grazing use in the 1980s,” wrote Galase. “In 2015, that number dropped to 761,000 acres … Astute land stewards are well aware that when land is taken out of management, Hawaii’s environment and prevalence of invasive species make it costly and difficult to get it back to working order. It is extremely important that we support those who are still operating as agricultural businesses.”
While the BLNR voted unanimously in support of the transfer, a DLNR statement indicated that the transfer will not become official until the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife determines how to access those lands, and that lessees and permittees will have to coordinate with DOFAW to establish access points before the transfer can go through.