Public Lands in Hawai‘i

Abstract

This chapter illustrates how federal and state governments and their agencies own 48 percent of Hawaiʻi’s land. The federal government owns or leases roughly 19 percent, and the Hawaiʻi State government owns 28 percent. While much of this land is in undevelopable park and reserve, management policies in federal and state statutes—especially those pertaining to the state’s public lands—permit a variety of private residential and commercial uses on these public lands. Moreover, federal land management and disposal policies affect the use of nearby private land in significant ways. Those aspects of public land policy that affect private uses on or near public lands are an indirect but potent tool for the management of private lands.