Calling the city’s proposed chart of prime farmland a map of Oahu’s Important Agricultural Lands (IAL) is a misnomer.

The draft is more accurately described as a map of the most productive acreage that has not already been paved over, slated for urbanization or otherwise excluded from county consideration for other reasons, including being owned by the state or federal governments.

Only land within the state Agricultural District, designated agriculture by the Oahu Development Plan/Sustainable Communities Plan land-use map, and zoned agriculture by the county could even be considered for proposed IAL designation.

Once that subset of Oahu land holdings was studied, the three main qualifying criteria were that the land is currently used for agricultural production; has high-quality soil and growing conditions that support agricultural production of food, fiber or fuel- and energy-producing crops; and has sufficient water to support viable agricultural production.

Given all those limitations, it’s no surprise that the inventory by the city’s Department of Planning and Permitting, with advice from a technical committee that included 11 farmers, would count only about 56,000 acres on Oahu as IAL, 40,000 acres of which already are being farmed or ranched. The group included 66,965 acres in the study, of 123,000 acres now designated for agriculture on Oahu.

Prime lands in central and west Oahu reserved for the controversial Ho‘opili and Koa Ridge residential and commercial developments, for example, was not even considered for proposed IAL designation because they have long been included in county land-use plans for urban use. State law does not allow land identified for urban use by the state or county to be designated as IAL, according to DPP.

This exclusion is sure to anger activists seeking to block those developments, who refer to the definition of "Important Agricultural Lands" in Hawaii Revised Statutes, Section 205-42, as lands capable of producing sustained high yields that contribute to the state’s economic base or are "needed to promote the expansion of agricultural activities and income for the future, even if currently not in production."

Moreover, the potential designation of so little acreage as "important" begs the question: What will happen to all those acres now designated for agriculture on Oahu that don’t make the cut? It’s predictable that pressure to rezone so-so ag land for development will increase.

Still, the draft IAL map for Oahu is an important accomplishment. It will be the catalyst for what is sure to be a robust community discussion over Oahu’s future livability and sustainability as the demand for housing, jobs and local food production grows. The island’s natural environment and resources also must be protected as those sometimes competing needs are balanced.

These issues are vitally important to all residents, whether or not they are landowners or involved in the agricultural industry. It’s time for everyone to weigh in, and public meetings scheduled for the evenings of April 1, 8 and 15 will provide the opportunity.

For more information, including a look at the map, see www.mapoahuagland.com, a project website due to be operational April 1.

Under the IAL plan, private landowners who seek the designation or accept it as a county mandate would receive valuable incentives, such as grants and tax breaks, to keep their land in active agricultural use. The designation would make it harder, but not impossible, for the land to be rezoned later for urban use.

The two largest swaths under consideration are in the Wahiawa-North Shore region and Kunia, with smaller parcels scattered throughout the island.

DPP hopes to submit a refined proposal to the Honolulu City Council by the end of the year, after hearing from interested stakeholders. If this plan is to succeed in expanding agricultural income, job opportunities and self-sufficiency for future generations, Oahu’s current residents must become informed and speak up.