KAHEA: Taking action

I did cut and paste for more information:

Uphold Hawai‘i's Conservation Protections

From native forests to traditional fishponds, reefs and beaches to forests and sacred pu’u, much of Hawai’i’s natural and cultural resources—our natural heritage and cultural landscape—survive in conservation districts.

In the waning days of the Lingle Administration, DLNR is proposing major changes to the rules protecting Hawai’i’s conservation districts. These proposed changes will fundamentally alter the way decisions are made for 2 million acres of public and private lands in Hawai’i. This will affect the future of “ceded” lands, nearshore and submerged lands, watersheds, and all areas mauka to makai that are under conservation.

While some of the proposed changes may be good for conservation -- like increased shoreline setbacks and beach restoration -- these few good changes do not off-set the harm that could be caused by other proposed changes that would increase commercial use and construction in the conservation district, limit public oversight, and undermine coherent management of our most precious resources.

That is why we are asking for:
- Genuine Community Process: convene an advisory panel to collect information about the efficacy of current regulations, accept input from experts and resources users, and consider the implications of every proposed change BEFORE it takes affect.
- Maintain Checks and Balances: do not grant staff the discretion to designate emergencies or waive requirements, do not limit the public’s right to appeal Board decisions, and keep the requirements for management plans and regular reporting.
- Hold the Line: do not change the way internal conservation boundaries are drawn, do not expand commercial uses, and do not allow more construction in the conservation district.

Points to Consider:
-These laws affect over 2 million acres of conservation lands. Why is this process so rushed? If we haven’t changed these laws in 15 years, why do we suddenly need to have new laws by December?
- Why haven’t we fully studied how these laws are working? How are these laws serving communities? Native species? Ecosystem function? Landowners? Cultural practitioners? Hikers? Divers? Surfers?
- We should know the full implications of these laws before the changes take affect. Why can’t DLNR tell us what these changes will mean on the ground, in practice?
- How will these changes impact many “ceded” public trust lands that are in conservation districts?
- Lands in the Conservation District are there for a reason—because they are rare or beautiful, ecologically important or unique, culturally significant, or important to what makes Hawai’i…Hawai’i. Let’s uphold our promise to protect them for future generations!

Are these Laws working? What happens when we change them?
This is the first major change to these legal protections since 1994. Yet, no study of these rules has been done, no working group was convened to evaluate these changes and their implications. We should be asking ourselves: In what ways are these laws working for communities? For landholders? For native species and habitats? For island ecosystems?

In fact, there was no public process to examine, evaluate or ask about how these laws are working before these draft rules were released. Nor have we effectively answered questions about what these changes mean, and how they will affect communities, species, habitats, landholders, and ecosystems. In informational meetings, DLNR staff were unable to answer critical questions about what these changes to the law will mean in practice. Yet, DLNR is committed to changing these laws by December. This is not how conservation decisions should be made.

What you can do
(1) Take a look at the rule changes at http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/occl. Can you understand them? Can you tell how they will affect the future of the conservation lands in your area? If the answer is NO, you are not alone!
(2) Submit Written Testimony! Tell DLNR you care about conservation lands and you want more time to understand the implications of these changes.
(3) Tell your hiking club, fellow practitioner, hula sisters, surf buddies, or anyone else you enjoy these places with! Submit your testimony as a hui (everything is better with friends).

To learn more about this important issue, please check out our informational flier: http://tiny.cc/conservationlands

Replies

Kaohi August 26, 2010 at 3:26pm

I did cut and paste for more information:

Uphold Hawai‘i's Conservation Protections

From native forests to traditional fishponds, reefs and beaches to forests and sacred pu’u, much of Hawai’i’s natural and cultural resources—our natural heritage and cultural landscape—survive in conservation districts.

In the waning days of the Lingle Administration, DLNR is proposing major changes to the rules protecting Hawai’i’s conservation districts. These proposed changes will fundamentally alter the way decisions are made for 2 million acres of public and private lands in Hawai’i. This will affect the future of “ceded” lands, nearshore and submerged lands, watersheds, and all areas mauka to makai that are under conservation.

While some of the proposed changes may be good for conservation -- like increased shoreline setbacks and beach restoration -- these few good changes do not off-set the harm that could be caused by other proposed changes that would increase commercial use and construction in the conservation district, limit public oversight, and undermine coherent management of our most precious resources.

That is why we are asking for:
- Genuine Community Process: convene an advisory panel to collect information about the efficacy of current regulations, accept input from experts and resources users, and consider the implications of every proposed change BEFORE it takes affect.
- Maintain Checks and Balances: do not grant staff the discretion to designate emergencies or waive requirements, do not limit the public’s right to appeal Board decisions, and keep the requirements for management plans and regular reporting.
- Hold the Line: do not change the way internal conservation boundaries are drawn, do not expand commercial uses, and do not allow more construction in the conservation district.

Points to Consider:
-These laws affect over 2 million acres of conservation lands. Why is this process so rushed? If we haven’t changed these laws in 15 years, why do we suddenly need to have new laws by December?
- Why haven’t we fully studied how these laws are working? How are these laws serving communities? Native species? Ecosystem function? Landowners? Cultural practitioners? Hikers? Divers? Surfers?
- We should know the full implications of these laws before the changes take affect. Why can’t DLNR tell us what these changes will mean on the ground, in practice?
- How will these changes impact many “ceded” public trust lands that are in conservation districts?
- Lands in the Conservation District are there for a reason—because they are rare or beautiful, ecologically important or unique, culturally significant, or important to what makes Hawai’i…Hawai’i. Let’s uphold our promise to protect them for future generations!

Are these Laws working? What happens when we change them?
This is the first major change to these legal protections since 1994. Yet, no study of these rules has been done, no working group was convened to evaluate these changes and their implications. We should be asking ourselves: In what ways are these laws working for communities? For landholders? For native species and habitats? For island ecosystems?

In fact, there was no public process to examine, evaluate or ask about how these laws are working before these draft rules were released. Nor have we effectively answered questions about what these changes mean, and how they will affect communities, species, habitats, landholders, and ecosystems. In informational meetings, DLNR staff were unable to answer critical questions about what these changes to the law will mean in practice. Yet, DLNR is committed to changing these laws by December. This is not how conservation decisions should be made.

What you can do
(1) Take a look at the rule changes at http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/occl. Can you understand them? Can you tell how they will affect the future of the conservation lands in your area? If the answer is NO, you are not alone!
(2) Submit Written Testimony! Tell DLNR you care about conservation lands and you want more time to understand the implications of these changes.
(3) Tell your hiking club, fellow practitioner, hula sisters, surf buddies, or anyone else you enjoy these places with! Submit your testimony as a hui (everything is better with friends).

To learn more about this important issue, please check out our informational flier: http://tiny.cc/conservationlands

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