LIHU‘E — The Important Agricultural Lands advisory committee met for the third time Friday, revealing the differences of the diverse group. The 21-member Stakeholder Technical Advisory Committee has voluntarily convened on a monthly basis since January and will continue to
LIHU‘E — The Important Agricultural Lands advisory committee met for the third time Friday, revealing the differences of the diverse group.
The 21-member Stakeholder Technical Advisory Committee has voluntarily convened on a monthly basis since January and will continue to do so for at least the next 16 months to help determine Kaua‘i’s farming future by identifying important agricultural lands.
With such an eclectic range of people from landowner and real estate agent Mimsy Bouret and Kaua‘i Economic Development Board Managing Director Matilda Yoshioka to Pioneer Hi-Bred International’s Steven Kai and cattle rancher Robert Ferreira, the members’ knowledge of the ‘aina varied as much as their opinions last week.
Some, like Grove Farm Senior Vice President Michael Tresler, focused on the monetary aspects of the land while others, such as taro farmer and state aquatic biologist Don Heacock, concentrated more on the preservation of acreage for sustainable food growth.
During the first portion of the meeting, IAL committee members were split up into groups — including one for the public to weigh in — to discuss topics such as land currently used for agricultural production and land with sufficient water to support crops sometime down the road.
Each group’s consensus was shared briefly with the rest of attendees while data was collected.
Finally, a criteria ranking exercise was conducted which was like a game show where committee members used hand-held devises to select which IAL criteria they deemed most important, such as soil quality versus using native Hawaiian agricultural practices.
The exercise was created to “see where there’s agreement and where there’s disagreement,” said University of Hawai‘i Urban and Regional Planning and IAL Project Director Dr. Karl Kim.
Some group members had a difficult time keeping pace, as terms like Agricultural Lands of Importance to the State of Hawai‘i (land identified as important by the Hawai‘i Board of Agriculture in 1977) were unfamiliar to them. There wasn’t enough time for detailed explanations to bring everyone up to speed, as the meeting was already past its scheduled allotment.
The next meeting will be from 3 to 5 p.m., April 23, at the Mo‘ikeha Building conference room.
Visit http://sites.google.com/site/kauaiial/ for more information.
