In Land We Trust: Establishing the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve

Kahoʻolawe has experienced vastly different uses over its history, from natural oasis and ancient Hawaiian settlement, to penal colony, ranch lands, and military bombing range. In May 1994, title to the island of Kahoʻolawe was transferred from the United States Navy to the State of Hawaiʻi through the recently established Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC). This victory came after decades of community activism against environmental destruction and growing wishes to reclaim Native Hawaiian access to and stewardship of the island.
This program features presenters, Stanton Enomoto of the US Department of the Interior, Michael Nahoʻopiʻi of KIRC, and Dr. Davianna McGregor of the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana, who recount what legislative steps were taken to relinquish military occupation and how community engagement helped achieve this. They also discuss the responsibilities of KIRC, current Kahoʻolawe land use policy, and what progress has been made to restore the beloved island.
This program was created in partnership with the Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation, a statewide non-profit that helps people save historic places through education, advocacy, assistance and protection of and for significant sites, and the Ulu Lehua Scholars Program, established by the William S. Richardson School of Law in 1974 to make legal education accessible to members of Hawaiʻi’s diverse communities.