RES 208 Draft 02 2008-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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WHEREAS, the `Io, or Hawaiian Hawk is respected and recognized as `uhane kapu (sacred spirit) in kanaka maoli traditional spiritual practices, chants, mele and oli, worshiped as `aumakua (family guardian spirit) by many kanaka maoli and present day `ohana through their mo`oku`auhau (genealogical and totemic ancestry), and therefore should maintain its protection under the Endangered Species Act of 1973; and WHEREAS, the `Io is an intrinsic part of traditional Hawaiian religious practices which is protected under the Federal Religious Freedom Act of 1978, Native American Free Exercise of Religion Act of 1993, and the State of Hawaii Constitution, Article XII, Section 7, Hawaiian Affairs, Traditional and Customary Rights; and WHEREAS, their nesting, fledgling and perching habitat has been greatly reduced in recent years and the `Io mate for life and build permanent nests in the highest Ohia trees to which they return yearly to lay only one egg per mating season, and are therefore slow to build up their population; and WHEREAS, President Obama ordered federal agencies to halt all pending regulations and publication of federal regulations planned but not yet published in the Federal Register and the December 2008 "Draft Post-Delisting Monitoring Plan for the Hawaiian Hawk, or `Io (Buteo solitarius)" is such a proposed federal regulation; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to maintain the `Io, or Hawaiian Hawk (Buteo solitarius) on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and continue protection under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County Council of Hawaii acknowledges that there exists documented and published archaeological evidence that the `Io, or Hawaiian Hawk once nested and roamed throughout all the Islands of Hawaii, but is now limited and found primarily on the Island of Hawaii. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the mere fact that the `Io, or Hawaiian Hawk exists nowhere else except Hawaii Island, the development of agricultural lands, clear-cutting of native forests, urbanization, and the delisting of the `Io currently occuring on Hawaii Island poses ongoing threats to the `Io, Hawaiian Hawk's primary habitat and survival. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the County of Hawaii encourages a safe habitat for the `Io, or Hawaiian Hawk (Buteo solitarius) on Hawaii Island and that cultural traditions, spiritual practices and inter-relationship between kanaka maoli, `Io, or Hawaiian Hawk (Buteo solitarius) and environment be encouraged, supported, perpetuated and protected.