Kamehameha Schools (KS) has announced that it will undertake a “community-driven” program to reenvision its management of about 1,160 acres it owns above and adjacent to Lahaina. It’s a welcome development, coming as it does in the months following the lethal and devastating West Maui fire of Aug. 8, which burned through a swath of KS property on its way to destroying Lahaina Town.

The fire, and the obliteration of Lahaina, left the burned areas exposed — and available for a new vision. The fire also bared great needs that exist, urgently, in West Maui, and which KS must address. Prime among them: safe, adequate housing for its displaced residents, particularly Native Hawaiians with generational ties to the island; conservation-minded distribution of water, balancing environmental restoration and human needs; and planning for a future that includes climate change and sea level rise.

The preliminary vision announced by KS is encouraging. KS says it plans to “better manage” the 1,160-acre parcel, which stretches nearly to the sea from the West Maui Mountains above. That will involve a marked change in stewardship: The entire parcel is within the boundaries of the former Pioneer Mill sugar cane plantation, and plantation operations are largely responsible for the transformation of Lahaina and surrounding lands from a Hawaiian-controlled and -tended district producing a bounty of coconut, ‘ulu (breadfruit) and taro to a landowner-controlled, arid region, water diverted by cane growers.

Throughout this evolution of West Maui, the ownership of the land at issue remained with KS — which throughout most of its history was known as Bishop Estate, having derived its rich holdings from the bequeathed estate of its alii (royal) founder, Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Today, KS holds the responsibility for planning the property’s future.

KS can also be seen as responsible for helping to rebuild and restore this part of West Maui because, as the owner of property that burned, feeding the Lahaina fire, it shares responsibility for the devastation wrought. That potential culpability is also being litigated on behalf of residents who lived in the thousands of structures that were burned and the families of the 102 fire victims who died. But outside of questions over blame and culpability, ownership and damages, there is also the question of kuleana, responsibility, for the well-being of those living in West Maui.

The KS trust is one of the largest owners of undeveloped land adjacent to Lahaina, and so KS is both strategically and physically well-placed to provide a measure of the restorative support that the area so desperately needs. By the terms of its trust, KS is charged with providing education to Hawaiian youth, and as an outgrowth of that charge — and to accumulate wealth that supports education — the trust has developed land to house Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians, leased land for agriculture and pursued a variety of other financial endeavors.

Its success in building a well-funded, stable organization allowed for the opening of KS schools on Maui, and community- building has been touted in connection with those schools. To double down on community-building in these times is a natural and proper endeavor.

The estate intends to pursue its expansion by first collaborating with those with whom it shares a stake in Lahaina’s future. “We are in conversations with community and government leaders to understand the opportunities for us to work together as a collective to rebuild Lahaina,” said KS spokesperson Sterling Wong. That too, is proper.

Future partners, both public and private, must apply due diligence to ensure that specific projects do indeed build back better. In a statement introducing its fledgling plan, KS states that its goal is “to bring abundance back to Lahaina” and to help rebuild “a more resilient community, where revitalized lands and waters sustain and nurture generations to come.” That goal should be supported, and celebrated — and scrutinized by stakeholders.

On about 190 acres of the most makai property, mostly below Lahaina’s bypass route, the trust envisions building housing, commercial centers, parks, cultural sites and possibly a school or other educational facilities.

On about 725 acres upland of developed parts of West Maui, KS plans to reestablish agricultural groves, perhaps of breadfruit, mango, avocado and kukui. Livestock pastures and taro farms are also planned, with continued support for existing agricultural tenants.

And in the highest region, over about 235 acres, the estate anticipates reforestation of both upland rainforests and dryland forest.

There is no timetable, however, and both government approvals and infrastructure development will be necessary. Enthusiasm and cooperation from residents, governments and other potential partners will be key to determining how transformative these developments can be, and how quickly they can be manifested.