Two state agencies that own a lot of productive agricultural land are close to realizing expectations of a 2003 Hawaii law created to help long-term ag operations.

The law was supposed to better support ranchers and farmers by having the Department of Land and Natural Resources give the Department of Agriculture up to 110,000 acres of ag land that DLNR largely leased to food producers.

Such transfers are subject to agreement by the boards of both agencies, but only 19,000 acres had been transferred through 2022.

Now the total amount of land that gets transferred is expected to reach 70,639 acres, with about 5,000 transferred in 2023, about 25,000 approved for transfer and another 22,000 pending approval but expected for transfer by midyear. DLNR is expected to retain roughly 40,000 acres.

“The agricultural com­munity has been waiting 20 years for some real meaningful action on Act 90,” said Brian Miyamoto, executive director of the Hawai‘i Farm Bureau, referring to the 2003 law. “We now see that.”

Gov. Josh Green announced the results under Act 90 on Thursday in his office at the state Capitol during a presentation that involved Miyamoto and other stakeholders.

Green said that after he was elected governor in November 2022, he informed his newly appointed DLNR and DOA directors how important it was to better fulfill the legislative intent of Act 90.

“We put this project on steroids,” he said. “We had two decades of limited progress. That’s just not adequate.”

Historically, competing missions of the two agencies hindered doing much under Act 90, in part because much of the ag land owned by DLNR and eligible for transfer had actual or potential conservation or recreational purposes that are important to DLNR, including reforestation.

DLNR lease regulations drew complaints from ag land lessees, some of whom operated under month-to-month revocable land-use permits, and others who have to compete in public high-bid lease auctions if they want to sustain their business after a lease term ends.

In 2021 the Legislature established a working group to assess difficulties and recommend solutions. Then after Green, a former state lawmaker, became governor, some of his former colleagues urged him and his newly appointed DLNR and DOA directors to make fulfilling Act 90’s goal a priority.

Several lawmakers in 2023 also introduced Senate Bill 77, which attempted to force progress under Act 90 but did not pass.

Sen. Lorraine Inouye, chair of the Senate Water and Land Committee, was the lead introducer of 2023’s bill and the one that led to Act 90 two decades earlier.

Inouye (D, Hilo-Pepeekeo) said Thursday that good results from the old law were long overdue.

“I’ll tell you, 20 years of delays has been a long time,” she said.

Sharon Hurd, DOA director and chair of the agency’s board, said not enough Hawaii ag land is producing food.

“We need to support that,” she said. “We could put so much more food into production.”

Dawn Chang, DLNR director and board chair, said as part of the collaborative effort in 2023, she visited two Hawaii island ranches operating on DLNR land that became part of the new transfers.

“When we came on board, as Sharon Hurd said, the governor and his leadership really encouraged us to sit down and work together to implement Act 90,” Chang said.

Most of the land involved in the Act 90 transfers is on Hawaii island and is leased to ranchers, including 24,767 acres for Kapapala Ranch. DLNR is also transferring land on Maui and Kauai.

Nicole Galase, managing director of the Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council, credited the efforts of Green, Hurd, Chang, lawmakers and others for what is now being achieved under Act 90.

“These agricultural leaseholders have been waiting for 20 years to be transferred to a department that actually supports agriculture,” she said.