Several trustees with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs are mulling the idea of making a bid for Moanalua Valley and Moanalua Gardens, even as the current owner, the estate of Samuel Mills Damon, considers other proposals. One of those would give ownership of the valley to the state.

At issue are two properties at the edge of Honolulu with significant environmental and cultural interest.

The nonprofit Trust for Public Land has put together and submitted to the estate a $5.5 million purchase package for the 3,714-acre Moanalua Valley, also known as Kamananui Valley. The package includes commitments of up to $3 million from the state, $1.6 million from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and $900,000 from the Army.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources would become the landowner under that plan. The Board of Land and Natural Resources approved the proposal last month.

But OHA trustee Dante Carpenter said he and several of his colleagues are considering a possible bid for both properties as part of an ongoing effort to acquire parcels of cultural significance that may one day be handed over to a sovereign Hawaiian government.