Ohana Welcomes Kahoolawe Request

Every Sunday, “Back in the Day” looks at an article that ran on this date in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The items are verbatim, so don’t blame us today for yesteryear’s bad grammar.

Lihue, Kauai >> The state Board of Land and Natural Resources yesterday recommended that the National Register of Hstoric Places accept all of Kahoolawe as an archaeological district, a move that could eventually make the Navy modify its practice bombings there.

The decision was greeted with a burst of applause from members and supporters of Protect Kaho’olawe ‘Ohana.

"We never thought the state would take such a strong stand" in support of the archaeological importance of the Island, said ‘Ohana representative Dr. Emmett Aluli.

"The Navy still has the upper hand," he said. If its need to use the Island is determined to be more important than historic preservation, he said, "then the battle begins again."

Board Chairman Susumu Ono said the decision would not affect the Navy’s activities there but would ensure that all potentially valuable archaeological sites on the Island would be reviewed.

Aluli agreed that acceptance by the national register would not stop the bombing automatically.

"We’re saying that the Navy will look pretty silly bombing a national historical monument," he said.

If the Navy could not guarantee they would miss all the archaeological sites in their bombing practice, he said, the ‘Ohana would take other legal action to try to stop it.

A 1977 federal court decision required the Navy to prepare an environmental impact statement to gauge the impact of the bombing of the Island, and to cooperate with the state to check the eligibility of archaeological sites for nomination to the state or national registers, Aluli said.

The surface study of the Island took nearly four years, he said, and there could be more archaeological finds beneath the surface.

The Navy submitted a list of 171 sites and agreed to include another 288 sites out of some 500 recommended by other parties.

A state Division of Forestry report recommended that the board approve placing the entire Island in the national register because of the difficulty in establishing boundaries for so many historical sites.