2015-04-20 Game Management Advisory Commission Mintues

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Hawaii Game Management Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes—April 20, 2015 WC: Would a petition help of people in support? AK: Yes, community support is very important. HV: We just closed on Banyan Tree Park— part of their presentation is they went through a petition process. Prior to application and during the application process they wanted to remind everyone that this is the direction that they wanted to go — so I would say yes. AK: Please call us if you have any more questions. Chair thanked the PONC team for their personation. 2) Where do we go from here? Chair T. Lodge, Power-point presentation. Hard copies were circulated to members. a) Continuation of Discussion from last month's meeting and how to address the messages of introduced species. Observations of Island Introductions. Are we taking property advantage of our Introduced Species? Are fences a risky environment experiment? A forest without fences possible? What we hear from DLNR frequently and their many partners is that our forest evolved without hoofed mammals in their midst. What we also hear is along with that frequently is that half of Hawaii's forests have already been lost. Alien species, such as feral pigs, and goats trample and devour vegetation, leaving bare ground or openings for alien plants that consume more water and increase runoff. Controlling these and other threats requires a large-scale effort to protect these irreplaceable natural assets (Rain follow the forest) Our Constitution prior to 1978, Section 1 contains a general policy statement mandating the legislature to promote the conservation, development, and utilization of agricultural resources and fish, mineral, forest, water, land, game and other natural resources. Natural Resources = Animals that can survive in the wild without the aid of man. 9