Land Study Bureau

Corporate body

Land Study Bureau

• LSB

1923, 1945, 1955-1973

The Land Study Bureau existed from 1957 to 1974, but its records include materials dated as early as 1923. It was established to gather, analyze and publish information on the characteristics, use and potential utilization of land in Hawaii in order to enhance the operational effectiveness of government agencies concerned with the entire spectrum of land issues, from agriculture to zoning.

Established: By Act 35, SLH 1957. The primary Legislative motive for creating the Land Study Bureau (LSB) was to respond to the lack of basic, readily available information on all aspects of land; such information was necessary for proper land use planning.

Dates: May 1, 1957-June 30, 1974.

Predecessor Agencies: None.

Organization: The LSB was part of the Organized Research Department of the University of Hawaii and responsible to the Director of Organized Research. It was placed in the University of Hawaii system to ensure the objectivity of its work and to provide it with easy access to other University researchers. In practice, it worked directly with various territorial/state and U.S. agencies. To carry out its legislative mandate, the LSB organized itself as a multidisciplinary group whose purpose was to research land use. They considered themselves a land fact finding agency. They had no interest in becoming involved in land use recommendations or zoning changes. Nevertheless, other University of Hawaii departments and state agencies sometimes felt that the LSB duplicated their own work. As a result, attempts were made to integrate the LSB into other agencies, but in the end it remained separate, on the basis that independent status was necessary to provide impartial service to a wide range of groups.

The general purpose of the LSB was to “develop, assemble, coordinate and interpret data on the characteristics and utilization of land” in Hawaii in order “that the highest and best use” of the land could be determined. The LSB had no administrative or regulatory functions. It was “a service organization with its programs concentrated upon collection and evaluation of facts needed to indicate ways and means of securing better land use.” Specifically, the LSB had the following statutory functions:

• To collect existing data on land, develop additional data, and integrate such data into a basic land classification study of the entire Territory (State);
• To study problems involving land use in the Territory (State) as the problems arose;
• To keep informed of changes in technology and in economic conditions affecting land use so as to be able to recommend alternative uses for land;
• To supply the Governor, the Legislature, and other territorial (state) and county agencies with data and impartial advice on land use; and
• To make its findings generally known through publications and, to the extent possible, to supply information on land use in reply to inquiries.

Personnel: The LSB had two directors during its existence: Frederick K. Nunns, 1957-1964, and Harold L. Baker. The Director supervised a staff consisting of specialists and technicians, including crop and soils scientists, economists, statisticians, cartographers and climatologists.

Act 35, Session Laws of Hawai‘i, 1957

Policies, Plans and Operations: The LSB perceived its mission as twofold; first, to provide some immediate information through generalized land classifications from available data and second, to conduct long range detailed land classifications including economic and crop capability ratings. The generalized land classifications “provided the heart of the General Plan for the State of Hawaii,” and the basis for the 1961 state zoning law. In 1958-1960, the LSB completed generalized land classifications for all major islands, including classification maps that rated land according to its agricultural capabilities.

To make the results of their work known, the LSB staff gave speeches to various government agencies and professional organizations, wrote articles for journals and appeared on television and radio. In addition, the LSB published a number of bulletins, circulars, reports, special studies and maps, which contained the results of studying land from several perspectives, and of classifying land in various ways, e.g., by soil or vegetation types, by amount of rainfall received, or by use, ownership, or suitability for intensive agriculture.

Another aspect of its statutory functions required that the LSB undertake projects at the request of other agencies, or by legislative fiat, such as making detailed land classification of public land tracts for the Department of Land and Natural Resources; providing technical assistance to the Department of Agriculture and Conservation in a research plan for the development of Hawaii's forest reserve areas; and preparing reports on land utilization for Legislative committees.

The Legislature often assigned new tasks to the LSB that consumed much staff time and ultimately slowed down their own legislatively mandated projects. The delay in the completion of the statewide detailed land classifications was the most serious result of the added work load. For example, in 1961, the Legislature, through Act 187, mandated that the LSB annually service the Department of Taxation by making special land classification studies; and annually service the State Land Use Commission with personnel and facilities as requested. By 1964, the Legislature, unhappy with the progress of the detailed land classification studies, set an end-of-1967 deadline for completion. At the same time, they cut back the LSB staff and the Senate Ways and Means Committee requested a shift of “emphasis of the program to the physical aspects of land classification and a reduction in economic aspects of land use.”

Disestablished: Once the major land classifications for all the islands were completed, the Legislature considered that the LSB had accomplished its mission. HR 148-1966 called for a study to recommend disposition of the LSB. A committee recommended keeping the LSB and it was not until 1973 that it was disestablished, pursuant to legislative intent contained in House Standing Committee Report No. 732, on HB 1295-73. HB 1295 was signed into law as Act 218, SLH 1973, the FY 73-75 state budget. Act 218 implemented the legislative intent by refusing to fund LSB operations beyond June 30, 1974. The records of the LSB were transferred to the Archives in November 1973 which suggests that they finished their work prior to that date.

1985-06-14, Prepared by Susan Shaner.
2002-12-05, Reprocessed and revised by Allen H. Hoof.

2021-06-28, Carol Kellett: entered into AtoM.