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1 <br />2 <br />3 <br />4 <br />5 <br />6 <br />7 <br />8 <br />9 <br />10 <br />11 <br />12 <br />13 <br />14 <br />15 <br />16 <br />17 <br />18 <br />19 <br />20 <br />21 <br />22 <br />23 <br />24 <br />25 <br />26 <br />27 <br />28 <br />HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.C.R. <br />NO. <br />THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023 <br />STATE OF HAWAII <br />HOUSE CONCURRENT <br />RESOLUTION <br />REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES TO <br />PROVIDE UPDATED STATISTICS AND FACTS RELATING TO THE <br />DECLINE OF PALILA ON MAUNA KEA AND INVESTIGATE THE FACTORS <br />CAUSING THE DECLINE OF THE PALILA POPULATION. <br />WHEREAS, the palila bird is a rare and critically <br />endangered species of honeycreeper that can only be found on <br />certain slopes of Mauna Kea in the County of Hawaii; and <br />WHEREAS, the palila has a close ecological relationship <br />with the native mamane tree and it relies on those trees for <br />food and nesting; and <br />WHEREAS, in 1979, a lawsuit was filed against the <br />Department of Land and Natural Resources, alleging that the <br />Department was "taking" palila for purposes of the federal <br />Endangered Species Act by maintaining sheep and goats in the <br />palila's critical habitat, which included all of Mauna Kea from <br />an elevation of six thousand feet to ten thousand feet; and <br />WHEREAS, between 1979 and 1999, the United States District <br />Court confirmed a mandate that the Department of Land and <br />Natural Resources eradicate sheep and goats from the palila's <br />critical habitat; and <br />WHEREAS, during that time, millions of dollars were spent <br />on construction of fences and the eradication of sheep to comply <br />with the order of the United States District Court; and <br />WHEREAS, more --than twenty-five thousand sheep have been <br />eradicated, with fewer than three hundred remaining as of 2022; <br />and <br />HCR LRB 23-0290.docx <br />IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I <br />