2015-11-16 Game Management Advisory Commission Minutes

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Hawaii County Game Management Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes — November 16, 2015 SF Yes, we are required to submit an annual report. 0 How do you mitigate for something that doesn't exist there? EA: Technically, so you'll notice if you read through the HCP — we've used the species recovery guidelines for creating stable populations so in, for some of those species it may be that we just have to create x -amount of stable populations with a minimum number per species, based on the recovery guidelines for that species. • So what they'll do is essentially in say one of those mitigation fences or a fence that you'd think you could plant one in — it would go in there? Would it ever constitute as take if that thing somehow was outside of the fence and reproduces? SF Yes, I guess so, but that's not a good scenario. No comment. • How many of the fifteen covered plant species are currently located in the forest bird sanctuary? SF: All of fifteen. So the whole process of this HCP then is to mitigate for the (25%) plants that are outside of these exclosures? If you have all these exclosures and the plants are fenced off already and they're protected, right? SF: Right, there's two ways that we've come up but we cannot, say that there are areas that don't harbor plants, so that's why we've gone through this whole modeling exercise, so there are areas that we have a model project the plants are in and that's where we get those take estimates from — but we're trying to fence as many known plants as we can and that's with those avoidance and minimization exclosures are for. • Can the rest of the areas can be open for hunting — then why can't we enhance game in those areas? Is it because the plants are going to be protected in their own areas? SF: If the situation was that the animals — the plants were not in the areas where the animals were — we would not need to do this. It's just that they are. There are a few exclosures now and there are a few plants in those but across the rest of the area there are plants and the animals are impacting them. Its' part of the HCP — isn't part of the mitigation is to have these plants fenced and protected?