HB2218 authorizes the Board of Land and Natural Resources to enter into “community co-management agreements” with qualified community-based organizations. The bill creates a new statutory framework in chapter 171, Hawaii Revised Statutes, defining key terms such as community-based organization, community co-management unit, and community co-management, and setting out the purposes for which these agreements may be used. Those purposes include protecting Native Hawaiian subsistence, cultural, and religious practices; preserving archaeological, historical, and environmental resources; restoring native species and habitats; managing parks, visitor activities, and related facilities; and supporting aina education.
The bill also establishes eligibility and process requirements for organizations seeking these agreements. The board must consider nonprofit status, staffing and board qualifications, past projects, the proposed area, and a detailed co-management plan that addresses activities, traditional practices, adaptive management, roles and responsibilities, accountability, data sharing, dispute resolution, funding, and enforcement. Agreements may be entered into by direct negotiation without public auction, may last up to 65 years, and are subject to ten-year review by the department and board, with the possibility of amendment or termination. Either party may also terminate the agreement under its terms with written notice.
HB2218 further amends the public lands disposition statute to expressly include community co-management agreements as a permissible form of disposition, alongside fee simple sale, lease, license, permit, and easement. It also bars persons whose prior public land disposition was canceled for noncompliance from obtaining another public land disposition, including a community co-management agreement, within five years. In practical terms, the bill expands DLNR’s legal authority and creates a formal pathway for long-term shared management of public lands and associated natural resources with community partners.
The overall sentiment reflected in the bill text and voting history is strongly supportive. The findings section emphasizes Native Hawaiian stewardship concepts, place-based management, and the need for community-government partnerships, and the measure advanced unanimously through Senate committees and conference committees before being transmitted to the Governor. The lack of recorded opposition in the available votes suggests broad agreement on the policy direction.
The main point of contention, to the extent one is visible from the bill itself, is not outright opposition but the balance between flexibility and state oversight. The bill allows direct negotiation and long-term agreements, which may raise questions about public access, accountability, and how much management authority is being shared or transferred. Those concerns are addressed in part through qualification criteria, reporting requirements, board review, and termination authority, but the bill’s structure still represents a significant shift toward formalized community control in managing public lands.
This bill amends chapter 171, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by creating a new statutory part governing community co-management and by adding definitions to the public lands chapter. It expands the Board of Land and Natural Resources’ authority to negotiate and enter into long-term community co-management agreements, and it expressly recognizes those agreements as a lawful method of disposing of public lands. The measure also establishes standards for eligible community-based organizations, required elements of co-management plans, periodic review, and termination procedures, thereby creating a new administrative framework for DLNR and the board.
The bill appears to have enjoyed strong bipartisan or at least broad institutional support. It passed the Senate Water, Land, and Agriculture Committee, the Senate Ways and Means Committee, and conference committees unanimously in the recorded votes, and it was ultimately transmitted to the Governor. The bill’s findings and purpose language also reflect a positive policy narrative centered on Native Hawaiian stewardship, community partnership, and long-term resource protection.
The principal policy tension is between empowering community-based stewardship and preserving state oversight of public lands and public trust resources. Supporters emphasize that long-term co-management can better protect cultural, subsistence, and environmental resources and formalize successful local partnerships. Potential concerns, though not reflected in recorded opposition, include whether direct negotiation without public auction could limit transparency or competition, how management authority and public access will be balanced, and whether long-term agreements of up to 65 years could constrain future state decision-making. The bill addresses these issues through qualification standards, reporting, board review, and termination provisions.