HAWAII FISHING NEWS
Feb. 2010
By Carroll Cox
Some say that DLNR is a four-letter word, that it has become an agency that you cannot trust or expect fair and balanced policies from relating to the management of ournatural resources, historical sites, state parks, boating, fisheries, water andland areas. Now is can be said that DLNR Chairperson Laura Thielen’sbehavior in Gov. Lingle’s lame duck administration rises to the level of theproverbial bull in the china shop. All that is fragile is broken, all thatis working is dismantled, and it looks as if our natural resources have beenabandoned. Laura Thielen’s solutions are closures, increased fees and anattitude that says, “I’m Laura Thielen, and the heck with the rest ofyou.”
Recent actions taken by Laura Thielen defy logic and show a true disrespect for the citizens of this state. Here are a few examples to illustrate theproblems.
DIVISION OF CONSERVATION ENFORCEMENT GUTTED
First, Chairperson Thielen gutted the Division of Conservation Enforcement by leaving the chief law enforcement administrator’s position vacant since last April, relying on individual officers to serve as temporary chiefs. Reportedlythis was done to usher in a friend, or politically connected person, Mark Young,as the next chief. However, he is currently on active duty and won’t beavailable to actually start the job until after he retires from the U.S. CoastGuard’s Living Marine Resources office here in Honolulu. Laura Thielenreportedly advised her staff that Mark Young is authorized by a memorandum ofagreement between the U.S. Coast Guard and her office that permits him to workat the Department of Conservation and Resource Enforcement Office and handlematters pertaining to the DLNR’s daily operations even though he is not anofficial employee of the DLNR.
Anonymous sources report that Laura Thielen accompanied Mark Young to a meeting on or about December 19, 2009, to discuss a union grievance matter that was filed by DOCAREofficers. This begs the question, is this fair or legal? And, to add tothe problem, while this is occurring, the deputy law enforcement chief positionis also vacant. It appears that the patients are left to run theasylum.
QUESTIONABLE ACTS BY DLNR OFFICERS
Recently, I have also been following a few of the many questionable acts committed by DLNR officers. One such act involved allegations that when a conservationofficer, who is also a commercial fisherman, sold fish to a vendor on O`ahu,officers from the DLNR on O`ahu and other possible violations. However,for unknown reasons the investigation stalled. Some of the officers areconcerned that upper management is trying to cover it up to avoid publicembarrassment.
Another suspicious case involved officers from the Lai`e District on O`ahu seizing undersized mullet and ice coolers from a fisherman in Lai`e and issuing acitation. Sometime later, the fisherman went to court to check on his caseand was told that it was never filed. When the fisherman asked to have hisfish and ice chests returned, the DLNR reportedly told him, “No!” He wastold that the courts forfeited the fish and ice chest to thestate.
One must understand that, if what the fisherman claims is true and the courts have no record of the case ever being filed, then the courts could not possibly haveforfeited the fish and equipment to the state. And, if true, this is causeto fire the officers for illegal seizure as well as civil rightsviolations.
EAST MAUI WATER DIVERSIONS AND THE DISCIPLINING OF DAN POLEHEMUS, DEPARTMENT OF AQUATIC RESOURCES (DAR)
What recently happened to Dan Polehemus, Laura Thielen’s supervisor of the Department of Aquatic Resources (DAR), is another of her many questionable acts. First,here is some background as to what happened. East Maui Irrigation Companysupplies water to Alexander & Baldwin Plantation on Maui, under a long-termlease. The water is directed to A&B from state lands in the East Mauiwatershed of northern Haleakala. However, the lease expired five yearsago. The company applied for a new lease but was sued by a group of EastMaui taro growers because the water code requires that “in-stream uses, such asbase flows for wildlife and traditional taro cultivation (Kuleana rights) beaddressed before off-stream uses could begranted.”
After several years, the case went to the State Water Commission. At the time, A&B was operating on a month-to-month lease and farmers had to make do with what wasleft. The Legislature was concerned with this and gave money to the DARand the Commission on Water Resources to allow a collaborative effort of watersharing between the parties. This worked out very well under formerChairperson Peter Young, and, for a while, it worked under Laura Thielen.Then the Water Commission decided to hold a hearing to address eight of the 27impacted streams that the farmers wanted torestore.
The Commission accepted specific in-stream flow standards for ecosystem maintenance and cultural allocations for seven of the streams, and one stream remained as it was.It should be noted that A&B objected to the newplan.
The Water Commission’s decision left 19 streams to deal with, most of which only required ecosystem restoration and flow maintenance because they were in narrow gorgesand could not be farmed.
The DAR was ordered to survey the streams and submit detailed reports on their biology and restoration needs by November 1, 2009. The DAR met this requirement,submitting plans based on extensive research and U.S. Fish & Wildlifemodels. The DAR assumed that the plan for the remaining 19 streams wouldfollow the same model previously approved for the original eightstreams.
However, this did not happen. “Despite repeated requests for meetings made to both CWRM staff and the deputy chairperson in charge of CWRM, development of the CWRM planfor the remaining 19 streams proceeded without inclusion of DAR’s comments orinput. And, the DAR was not allowed to review or comment on the plansubmitted by CWRM prior to its officialposting.
The CWRM plan recommended that 18 of the 19 remaining streams continue diverting water as before, allowing only one stream to receive a minor amount of restorationwork. The DAR said it could not support this recommendation because thediversion would run counter to DAR’s mission statement: “Manage, conserve andrestore the state’s unique aquatic resources and ecosystems for present andfuture generations.”
The DAR then set out to craft a reasonable alternative recommendation, stating that “some degree of strategic flow restoration in eight of the 19 remaining streams would resultin recovery of up to 68 percent of the habitat lost in the 19 streamscombined.”
At the next Water Commission hearing, Commissioner Dr. Lawrence Miike stated that he found the CWRM proposal to be highly flawed and did not support what was essentially ano-action alternative. After two days of testimony, the Water Commissiondeferred action and requested that CWRM staff collaborate with the DAR toprovide them with a broader range of flow restorationalternatives.
At the request of Laura Thielen, DAR Administrator Dan Polhemus attended the meetings and provided testimony on behalf of the DAR. After the meeting, Dan Polehemus wassummoned to Laura Thielen’s office and given a letter charging him with“dereliction of duty” and not meeting his employment goals. He was placedon suspension without pay for 10 working days, beginning December 28,2009. One of the stated reasons was that he failed to provide streamstudies and additional information to CWRM staff for in-stream flow standarddevelopment. However, knowing Laura Thielen and the way she conductsbusiness, this has everything to do with politics andmore.
She is being vindictive and is carrying out the wishes of others. She is doing what she wants to do and serving special interests. This is consistent with a lameduck administration where no one is heldaccountable.
Normally, these incidents would be thoroughly investigated and properly addressed, but when Chairperson Thielen is courting nonprofits and other environmental groups towrongfully close areas, raise fees, retaliate against state employees and leavekey management positions open for friends and political connections, all you getis corruption and a ragtag, backwoods law enforcement mentality.Unfortunately, it is the environment and other natural resources that suffer inthis scenario.
The recent protest by fishermen at the state capitol is proabbly the only way to get any relief from Laura Thielen’s wrath and disregard for the dignity and respect thatis owed to the people of this state.
Our state legislators have also turned a cold shoulder to other assaults on the public’s right to enjoy the recreational opportunities found in Hawai`i. Basicallywhat the fishermen, hunters and other outdoor recreationist have to do is tostart voting some of their legislators out in order to send them a strongmessage that they have had enough.
Sandra Park nicely states it in her poem, “Ode to DLNR,” also published in this issue of Hawaii Fishing News.
Tune in to my radio talk show at KWAI 1080 AM, on Sunday mornings, 8 a.m., or visit my website, http://www.carrollcox.com/, for more information. You can also E-mail me at,carroll@carrollcox.com>,
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=a396bf64-bf46-4b88-abc9-6e405ea678b6)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=69bcecff-685a-4d12-800c-d450ac8dfeed)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=e04bbcfc-28ca-42cb-943a-a8b11db3a1d4)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=26f7bdac-aae7-4d01-9c72-9c4f0ca7d7e3)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=7fb56545-7228-4ac1-9c29-3ab2eb77fe07)
