Reply #91: Is this part of what you were discussing? Found it in google.....

[Judi Lynn]

I. BACKGROUND

Prior to American acquisition, Hawaii developed an exten-
sive feudal land ownership system that has proved remarkably
resistant to change. Although Hawaiian leaders and American
settlers have repeatedly attempted to divide the large Hawai-
ian land estates, the results have generally been unsuccessful.
As of the late 1980's, the largest eighteen landowners in the
state owned 40% of the available land. L.A. Powe, Jr.,
Economic Make-Believe in the Supreme Court, 3 Const.
Comm. 385, 389 (1986). The seventy-two largest landowners
owned 47%. Id. With the federal and state government own-
ing 49% of the land in the state, id., little is left for the rest
of the population. As might be expected in an area of desir-
able real estate with little land for sale, the price of owning
land in Hawaii has grown exponentially over the past several
decades.
(snip/)

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=9th&navby=case&no=9416041

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Since I have NO sense of law concerning real estate, it's slow sledding for me, but I'd say it looks as if, from looking at this paragraph, something significant happened concerning land ownership in Hawaii during the 1980's.

I'd imagine you know what you're talking about.