FUNDING HAWAII'S NEXT GENERATION OF STATE PARKS AND PUBLIC AREAS

One trip to any beach park in Hawai‘i will show you these public areas are immensely popular. Residents and visitors converge on the beach not only swimming and fishing but also for potlucks, family time and many other recreational activities, which makes these public beach parks are one of the most heavily used services provided by government. Despite the immense popularity, Hawai‘i has no comprehensive program to identify and acquire land for future beach parks and similar public areas. Without such a program in place, Hawaii is losing an opportunity to preserve land for future generations.

During the 2002 legislative session, I introduced several bills that would establish programs to preserve land for public use. These bills included proposals to:

• dedicate a portion of the hotel room tax to acquire coastal land
• dedicate a portion of capital improvement projects to preserving coastal land

These proposals link the ability to preserve land to the rate of development or visitor growth. By doing so, they provide a mechanism for the state to protect important cultural, recreational, and natural resource areas for future generations. Several other states have passed similar legislation with the same purpose. These states include California, New Jersey, Florida, and Maryland.

Visitor surveys conducted by the University of Hawaii Sustainable Tourism Program found that visitors would most like to see more protected coastal lands in the future development of the state. Visitors come to Hawai‘i to experience its incredible natural beauty. Protecting the state’s coastal lands is an investment in the natural assets that attract tourists here setting another example that our environment is our economy.

I will continue to pursue this type of legislation to ensure that tomorrow’s families and visitors can enjoy Hawaii’s natural beauty as we have.

District 14, East & North Kauai

OTHER ARTICLES IN POSITION PAPERS SECTION

Bottle Bill
Land Banking
Renewable Energy
Gasoline Pricing
Hydrogen
State Parks Funding
Education