2014-10-27 Game Management Advisory Commission Minutes

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Hawaii Game Management Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes —October 27, 2014 you know, you hunters — as sportsmen —we come from a very strong history in this country of leading wildlife conservation. You know it wasn't long ago deer, elk, turkeys — all these things —they would have been on an endangered species list had there been an endangered species act then. And it was hunters that stepped out to protect these things and to bring them back in a conservation ethic. And it should be the same here in Hawaii, since we are the largest users of the forest, we need to care about iiwi, about akeapolaau, about palila birds, as well as the sheep, goats and everything else we looked at. So that's just my testimony and my presentation here and hopefully it shed some light on the issues that we face and maybe a potential way of how we should move forward. Thank you very much. 2. GMAC Commissioner Tony Sylvester (Power-point presentation) — Concept of a statewide game management commission. Support? Council Resolution? Mayor? T. Sylvester: It's a good year to introduce legislation cause on odd years — anything that we do carries over to the next year— so we actually have like a 2-year shot at this — so it's good for us to get involved as much as we can and make it happen this year. And then wherever it ends —we can pick up next year and we wouldn't have to start all over again. So why a state game commission? For the ability to work collaboratively requires a seat at the table. And I think that's kind of what Ryan was trying to talk about too, that we have all these other commissions and things where they all have a seat at the table to, I guess, project their views or concerns and so forth. So Hawaii County's vision, OK, we already had our mayor he committed his resources to give us a seat at the table in Hawaii County. So what we're trying to do now is we'd like to take this vision to other counties of which some members have gone to outer islands already, and then at the state level, through legislation. So why is having a seat at the table so important? Well, our core mission has always been to address the concerns of our members in our community. Everyone values trust, respect, creativity, collaboration and knowing they have a voice. And in the three years that I've been active in this — that is what keeps me going. And then one of the major reasons is the decline in access to public lands of diminishing resources of fish, game, and subsistence gathering. So who is looking out for our families, our future, keiki, friends, relatives, ohana? Who's looking out for these resource users? So what is lacking? I broke this down in four simple things: cooperative management and sustainable land management. For me, it's a commitment organization and involvement by all resource users. OK? And that's us too. OK? We all need to do a better job. I mean we can easily grumble and complain and go home or whatever—we need to get involved —we need to get active, need to get organized. Another problem is the will of DLNR and the need 17