United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1994-05-26 monographic deposited born digital GA 1.13:RCED-94-24 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-24 P0b002ee18037b4a8 f:rc94024 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-24 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-24 RCED-94-24 Federal/state relations Compensation claims Land transfers Land management Judicial opinions Public lands Fair market value Losses Land use agreements Land use law Hawaii Lualualei (HA) Other Written Product RCED Although the Interior and Justice Departments maintain that the federal government has never had a trust responsibility to native Hawaiians, the state of Hawaii disagrees. Hawaiian state courts and the state's Attorney General have concluded that the federal government had a trust responsibility during the territorial period, and the state's Attorney General believes that such a responsibility continues today. In GAO's opinion, territorial governors lacked authority to withdraw Hawaiian homelands for nonfederal public purposes through executive orders and proclamations. However, many of these unauthorized withdrawals appear to have (1) benefitted native Hawaiians or (2) involved lands that were unsuitable for authorized homeland uses, such as homesteading or leasing, during the territorial period. Territorial governors also lacked authority under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act to withdraw homelands for federal purposes through executive orders or other means. Because such withdrawals took place more than 50 years ago, there is no guarantee that all information relevant to these withdrawals is still available. Therefore, GAO is unable to express an opinion on the propriety of homeland withdrawals for federal purposes. GAO believes that the methodology used by a consultant to the state to estimate the lost income from and the current market value for parcels of lands was generally reasonable. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-24/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-24.htm GAO/RCED-94-24 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-24 Other Written Product GAO/RCED-94-24; Hawaiian Homelands: Hawaii's Efforts to Address Land Use Issues; Federal/state relations Compensation claims Land transfers Land management Judicial opinions Public lands Fair market value Losses Land use agreements Land use law Hawaii Lualualei (HA)