Every Sunday, “Back in the Day” looks at an article that ran on this date in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The items are verbatim, so don’t blame us today for yesteryear’s bad grammar.

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Hawaii is engaged in a tug-of-war with the federal government over its boundaries in the Leeward Islands, and both sides have dug their heels in for a hard pull.

At issue in the dispute over the northwest region of the Hawaiian Archipelago is a potentially lucrative state fishing development versus protection of wildlife habitats.

State officials believe both goals can be accomplished, but federal wild-life officials are skeptical. They say they’re not opposed to fishing but they want to be certain the natural resources won’t be harmed, and if there’s any doubt, they’ll "opt for the resources."

The U.S. Fish and Wild-life Service, which manages the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, is viewed as "the bad guy" in the jurisdictional battle. But local service officials say "a lot of misstatements have been bandied about."

"We’re not claiming jurisdiction over a 200-mile corridor into the Pacific, but only over eight specific units," said J. Brent Giezentanne, refuge manager.

They are Pearl and Hermes Reef, French Frigate Shoals, Nihoa and Necker islands, Gardiner Pinnacles, Lisianski and Laysan islands and Maro Reef.

However, Congress proposes to give preservation status to 302,435 acres of fastlands (those not submerged), infringing reefs and waters in the refuge system under a wilderness designation.

The state is vehement-ly protesting the congressional legislation and the fish and wildlife refuge boundaries, claiming the federal government has jurisdiction only over fastlands in the refuge — about 1,700 acres.

The Legislature passed a bill and a resolution during the recent session to assure the state’s jurisdiction over the fringing reefs and waters of the Leeward Islands and "to make urgent declarations that Hawaii oppose" the inclusion of 302,435 acres in a National Wildlife Preservation System.

The bill extends state authority to regulate fishing in the Leeward Islands to include Nihoa and Necker islands, together with the reefs and waters of all the islands from Nihoa to Kure Island. …

Under the Organic Act of 1900 and the Admission Act of 1959, such reefs and waters are part of Hawaii, the committee report said.