Bill Text: HI HCR50 | 2023 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Land And Natural Resources To Provide Updated Statistics And Facts Relating To The Decline Of Palila On Mauna Kea And Investigate The Factors Causing The Decline Of The Palila Population.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-04-18 - Resolution adopted in final form. [HCR50 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2023-HCR50-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

50

THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES TO provide updated statistics and facts relating to the decline of palila on Mauna Kea and investigate the factors causing the decline of the palila population.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, the palila bird is a rare and critically endangered species of honeycreeper that can only be found on certain slopes of Mauna Kea in the County of Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, the palila has a close ecological relationship with the native mamane tree and it relies on those trees for food and nesting; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 1979, a lawsuit was filed against the Department of Land and Natural Resources, alleging that the Department was "taking" palila for purposes of the federal Endangered Species Act by maintaining sheep and goats in the palila's critical habitat, which included all of Mauna Kea from an elevation of six thousand feet to ten thousand feet; and

 

     WHEREAS, between 1979 and 1999, the United States District Court confirmed a mandate that the Department of Land and Natural Resources eradicate sheep and goats from the palila's critical habitat; and

 

     WHEREAS, during that time, millions of dollars were spent on construction of fences and the eradication of sheep to comply with the order of the United States District Court; and

 

     WHEREAS, more than twenty-five thousand sheep have been eradicated, with fewer than three hundred remaining as of 2022; and

 

     WHEREAS, while efforts are made to salvage sheep meat, only about forty percent is typically recovered, leaving about sixty percent to rot or feed feral cats and mongoose, which are themselves a threat to the palila population; and

 

     WHEREAS, despite the eradication of sheep and restoration of mamane forests, only an estimated three hundred palila were counted in 2021; and

 

     WHEREAS, the routine cost of sheep eradication is expensive:  in October 2022, $8,844.50 was spent to eradicate fifty-nine sheep; and

 

     WHEREAS, due to the court mandate, thousands of residents have lost access to an important source of subsistence hunting on Mauna Kea; and

 

     WHEREAS, the drastic reduction in sheep, combined with the recovery of vegetation on Mauna Kea, has resulted in an increase of vegetative fuel loads; and

 

     WHEREAS, wildfires on the slopes of Mauna Kea represent the most significant threat to palila and their habitat; and

 

     WHEREAS, recent fires have resulted in the destruction of approximately two hundred fifty acres of palila critical habitat; and

 

     WHEREAS, due to the threat of fire, the Board of Land and Natural Resources has proposed a fuel break expansion project on Mauna Kea, which will remove thirty-five acres of mature mamane, which is another example of costs resulting from the United States District Court's mandate; and

 

     WHEREAS, despite the best efforts over the last forty years, the population of palila continues to be critically endangered; and

 

     WHEREAS, further investigations must be conducted to determine why current efforts have not resulted in recovery of the palila, and to identify new strategies to preserve this species; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Land and Natural Resources provide updated statistics and facts relating to the decline of palila on Mauna Kea; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and Natural Resources investigate factors resulting in the decline of palila for purposes of recommending updated strategies to preserve this species and updating the United States District Court's sheep and goat eradication mandate; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2024; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

DLNR; Palila; Mauna Kea; Goat and Sheep Eradication; Report to Legislature

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