Although Moloka'i is often called "the last Hawaiian island," it has the largest percentage of foreign land ownership. Residents have little say over development plans by by foreign owners, and have often had to battle to safeguard the island's environmental, historic, and cultural resources. Now our community is launching what we hope will be a final solution: a campaign to purchase Molokai Ranch (n.k.a. Molokai Properties Ltd.) and create a community-based company to own and manage these lands in perpetuity.
The Buy the Ranch campaign will be led by the Moloka'i Community Service Council (MCSC), which in 1998 coordinated the community planning process and prepared the federal application that won Moloka'i's designation as an Enterprise Community. While raising funds to buy the Ranch, MCSC will work with the community to create a new entity to own the lands after the purchase.
The Ranch's value has been appraised by its parent company, the Guoco Group, at $200 million. Starting with the residents of our own community, MCSC has embarked on a landmark campaign to raise enough funds to purchase the Ranch. If you'd like to help, you can mail a check to "Buy the Ranch," care of MCSC, P.O. Box 2047, Kaunakakai, Hawaii, 96748, or click on the button below to make a donation via Paypal.