2015-07-20 Game Management Advisory Commission Minutes

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Hawaii Game Management Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes —July 20, 2015 the equation and they kinda went with the anti-hunting sentiment for the base. I've been up there — born and raised in Hawaii. I've hunted there from probably 1969 as a young kid. I've seen a lot of changes in the area, not only to the animals but also the landscape and climatic change — I think that has a really strong effect on what's going on up in the mountain — there's a horrible drought coming back again — but I listen to you, Mr. Pohemius, and you speak to us about changes and I hear people who enter the area will have to have background checks — that's what I interpret as you were saying, you will start scrutinizing the people to enter the area and that's what I get— that's fine with me but that may also limit some people from going in there that, you know, may not. But that's what I understand you're saying — that's what— a people control — like you're saying game management is 80% people control, which is probably true because I see a lot of people doing things. I also concerned —what I feel in the last ten, fifteen years what happened is that you read the lease and I know the lease has been changed or renewed but the lease is the land is State land that was leased to the Army for the Army to use for training — but it's a State hunting area — it's managed — it's a game management area — like we've had in the past—we spoke about the power of words and when you change words you change the definition of use in the area and 20 years ago there was a lot of hunting and they would have training and there was, it was — the equation went the other way — it's like 20 years ago there was 60% hunting, 40% training throughout the year. Now it's gone — and then for a while there it kinda went the other way and now it's, now I see, you know, I'd say it's still maybe 60% training and the hunting opportunities have diminished. But I'm concerned about the fact that control of the State land —the State lease — has been given up the State. Our DLNR is not fulfilling their responsibilities to the people that pay for their jobs and they're giving control of the land — State land — our land — over to the Feds — Fish & Wildlife Service — and I understand like you're under the gun cause Fish &Wildlife Service is — you have the Colonel on one side saying to you "I want a sustainable hunting program," and the Fish and Wildlife Service is on this side saying, "Oh, we want to kill everything because," you know, there's people in that position — they don't want to see a single living sheep or deer or goat on the area. You know, I understand that and you're stuck in the middle, but we're concerned — I become concerned about it because — like I said —we have given up our control of the land and what we have used that land for and that land has fed thousands of Hawaiian families for the last forty-fifty years that I know of, you know, and beyond that and before and will feed families for many years to come if properly managed and I'm worried that the government— 10