SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2026
We proudly present the 24th annual Buy Back the Beach benefit lūʻau, an island style pā‘ina under the stars raising vital operational support for Hawai‘i Land Trust. We are excited to return to the Old Lāhainā Lūʻau and are incredibly grateful for their support of our return.
Hawaiʻi Land Trust serves as a dedicated partner, working with communities across the state to protect and steward invaluable coastal landscapes, farms and ranches, and wahi kupuna that define our unique heritage.
Buy Back the Beach, one of Maui’s most sought-after and exciting events, sells out each year! Your participation in this event directly supports HILT’s mission to protect, steward, and cultivate relationships with ʻāina on Maui and the rest of the State.
This year the event is 21 years+
2026 Champions of the Land
D. Kapuaʻala Sproat & Isaac Moriwake
Hawai‘i Land Trust is pleased to honor D. Kapua‘ala Sproat, Director of the Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law and Professor of Law at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law, and Isaac Moriwake, Managing Attorney of the Mid-Pacific Office of Earthjustice, at its 24th-annual Buy Back the Beach benefit lūʻau.
Sproat and Moriwake’s landmark legal work has helped protect water resources and Native Hawaiian water rights across Hawai‘i Pae ‘Āina.
On Maui, their work on the Nā Wai ʻEhā case spanning over two decades has enabled the ongoing restoration of the Kapoho Loko I‘a Kalo at HILT’s Waihe‘e Coastal Dunes & Wetlands Refuge, along with other native habitat and traditional and customary practices from Waikapū to Waiheʻe. The success of the Nā Wai ʻEhā case to restore stream flows and water rights on Maui has provided a powerful legal and community precedent for other water restoration cases across the islands, clearing the way for other communities to seek similar protections for their local water resources.
“Both Kapua and Isaac have worked tirelessly to uphold water rights for the benefit of the ʻāina and people of Maui,” said Scott Fisher, Ph.D., Director of ‘Āina Stewardship at Hawai‘i Land Trust. “Their tenacity and dedication have resulted in a more just and equitable sharing of the water, making Maui more sustainable and resilient as we face an uncertain climate future.”
D. Kapuaʻala Sproat
Sproat joined the William S. Richardson School of Law in 2007 as an Assistant Professor with Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law and the Environmental Law Program. She currently teaches courses in Native Hawaiian and environmental law, and legal research and writing. She is also the Co-Director of the Native Hawaiian Rights Clinic.
Sproat previously served for almost a decade as an attorney in Earthjustice’s Mid-Pacific Office. She has worked tirelessly to preserve the resources necessary to perpetuate Native Hawaiian culture by litigating state and federal cases under the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, State Water Code, and various Hawai‘i environmental laws. She was born and raised on Kaua‘i’s North Shore in Kalihiwai.
Isaac Moriwake
Moriwake in 2019 was named Managing Attorney of the Mid-Pacific Office of Earthjustice a national public-interest law firm that has served Hawai‘i and the greater Pacific region for almost four decades. His 25 years of legal practice includes litigation and advocacy before state and federal courts and agencies on a range of issues including water, climate, and environmental justice. Born and raised on O‘ahu, he graduated from the William S. Richardson School of Law and clerked for Justice Paula A. Nakayama of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court.
Notable cases Moriwake has handled include the Nā Wai ‘Ehā case and the Navahine youth climate case to decarbonize the state transportation system, both of which featured constitutional environmental rights. He is a Lecturer in Law at the William S. Richardson School of Law.
