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June 18, 2024 - GMAC Minutes
<br />was personally threatened and, there was a members in my household were quite afraid. So, I
<br />did what I felt was the right thing to do. I checked in with my kumu in the Hawaiian community
<br />– asked for advice – and I took it. That’s the important part. And then I was invited to give a –
<br />to be on a panel a couple months ago – at Hawaiian Shores because they were, Council
<br />Member Kierkiewicz was also there. I am so grateful that I had that experience. I wasn’t
<br />intending on being a presenter, actually, I was just attending. Take the temperature and find
<br />out, you know, what the people know what’s going on in the community because the last two
<br />years I’ve been getting phone calls – desperate phone calls – 90% have been from Hawaii
<br />County – but I’ve gotten a whole bunch from Kauai. This year as well as Maui and Oahu, of
<br />course. So, people don’t call me unless they’re desperate and I have been doing what my kumu
<br />said – collecting stories and I feel like it’s time for action. In September, I participated in the
<br />Hawaii Farm Bureau convention, which was held here in Hilo actually. And we did farm visits.
<br />
<br />SW: And I’m sorry, can we, can you circle this back to what is the Kaulike project.
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<br />KL: OK. I will. So, the Kaulike Project came out of that because the point is not to make money –
<br />the point is to solve the problem. And fertility control is a vetted method of addressing wildlife
<br />populations internationally. I have worked with people in three countries now who are looking
<br />at it in different ways and there’s just a lot to be learned. It’s not the only way, but it’s really
<br />hard to be effective if it’s not a component in certain species, so, Kaulike Project is not about
<br />the pigs. It’s about the effects on us as humans of having these large populations that are
<br />spreading disease and causing erosion and you guys know more than me what the issues are.
<br />So, some places use toxicants – poisons – I don’t think that’s appropriate for Hawaii. I just
<br />don’t, but if people decide that’s what they want to do – so be it. But we need to use
<br />something. So Kaulike Project is looking at providing – first off information and materials so
<br />people can understand the issues in a more holistic way, and the way where we’re going to
<br />work this is in addition to education and research – research is really important – but to be
<br />effective in this – one has to be community engagement – as you know from your fisheries –
<br />that’s what works – we know that works in Hawaii. I am also a member, and I am a
<br />commissioner on the Legacy Land Conservation Commission and that allows me to – like you
<br />guys – hear firsthand like boots on the ground what is going on – so, it’s not about the money,
<br />it’s about how do we come together and have civil discussions and come up with a game plan
<br />on what’s gonna work for everybody. Specifically – I have a lot of learning to do about what is
<br />actually happening – this is what I would, you know, I can do my research, but, like, what are
<br />we going to do, like, what, I don’t know where the county is. When I was asked to speak on
<br />that Hog panel there was – in Puna – there were – there was fencing, and I know from my work
<br />on the Legacy Land Commission when DLNR prices out fencing it’s 30 to 70 dollars a foot and
<br />may think that’s good for about 10 years. So, OK, it’s effective but moderately. According to
<br />this, putting up fences and hunting, yeah, well, we know whatever we know isn’t enough,
<br />we’re not protecting, we’re not protecting our agriculture and we’re not protecting properties.
<br />And this is a slide from the \[unclear, sounds like Box\] Institute – which is probably the biggest
<br />organization internationally that addresses wildlife fertility control. And you can see what
<br />happened here, but I just want to bring what’s down here – so Germany is half the size of Texas
<br />– they’re really good at \[unclear\] so to keep a population of \[unclear\] feral pigs at the same
<br />level you have to cull 70-90% per year. So, in the case of Germany, that means 822,000 that’s a
<br />lot. I don’t think we have \[unclear\], I mean, we don’t have as many as they have but even at
<br />400,000, if we want to go with that, that’s a lot of hunting – lotta hunting – so, there, I know
<br />one of the things I heard today in the room was really a lot about the safety of the mix, so
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