Editorial: DLNR must tighten fund management

A scathing new audit of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Land Division cannot be allowed to be go unheeded. Instead, it should be the start of acknowledging systemic problems, then lead to real improvements. And all that must happen despite the agency’s top leaders generally defending serious deficiencies plaguing public-lands management that are costing taxpayers millions of dollars yearly.

Among the key findings in the state auditor’s report into DLNR’s Special Land and Development Fund (SLDF):

>> Lack of coherent policies and procedures prevents adequate management of leases and revocable permits (RPs). The auditor is right in stating that such rules are essential to ensure that awarding of leases and permits is consistent and fair, not subjective. In fact, the report reveals numerous examples of public lands being used by the same longtime renters at woefully undervalued rates.

>> Without a strategic plan for its public lands, the Land Division’s management of leases and RPs defaults to the status quo rather than exploring higher and better use.

>> Lack of transparency and accountability hinder administration of the fund, source for the entire annual operating budget of the Land Division, the Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands, and the Engineering Division’s Dam Safety and Geothermal programs. The SLDF also is used by various DLNR divisions to respond to natural disasters such as fires, rockfalls or floods; as well as for conservation projects, including state matching money for federally funded endangered and invasive species initiatives.

So clearly, many worthwhile environmental programs rely on the fund’s robustness. Sadly, the audit found after an 18-month review of documents and operations: “The Land Division is ill-prepared for the current and future demands of public land management, unable to resolve its present challenges, and not planning for opportunities in the future.”

Equally sad — perhaps more so — was DLNR Director Suzanne Case’s adamant rebuttal to the audit that mostly defends the status quo. That includes DLNR’s routine default position of perpetually extending most of the 340-plus revocable land permits; these are one-year permits, ostensibly, that have been renewed over decades with few, if any, rent increases.

This obviously benefits longtime, familiar tenants — and has cost the public millions of dollars over the years, with some rents being undervalued by as much as 1,000%.

DLNR’s explanation for such laggard operations? The Land Division administrator and some Land Board members wanted to retain “good tenants,” and not risk vacancies.

Countered the audit, rightly: “To the contrary, we believe that retaining tenants at below-market rents without offering other members of the public the opportunity to bid for the leases is inconsistent with DLNR and the Land Board’s public trust obligations.”

Case told the auditor that DLNR would pursue, as recommended, development of a strategic plan covering lands under lease or revocable permit, as well as unencumbered lands that might be suitable for development — even as she questioned the cost-effectiveness of such a plan.

There once was hope that Case, entering state government from the nonprofit land-conservation sector, would vigorously call out bureaucratic deficiencies. Wrong. Instead, here’s a telling aspect from the audit: When asked about the lack of a long-range strategic plan, the Land Division administrator “does not see the necessity of such planning, explaining that the division’s focus and direction often change ‘on a dime,’ especially during changes in administration or board composition.”

So rather than pursue better ways of doing things, with optimal public return, the path of least resistance prevails while waiting out the changing of the guard. To Case, Gov. David Ige and others in the current guard: Taxpayers deserve better, and the status quo is not acceptable.