2017-01-17 Game Management Advisory Commission Minutes

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Hawaii Game Management Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes – January 17, 2017 JO: Well, certainly, the only public ranges in the state are run by counties. Ukumehame over in Maui and the Coco Head shooting complex on Oahu are County run facilities and they accommodate quite a number of the shooting sports respectively. TL: Our ideal would be to see if there’s some compatible here. Since all the work has pretty much been done for Puuanahulu – there’s very little else to do – and EIS maybe the next step. JO: Right. And I should mention that not just the funding for the range development operations conference – that’s a good investment no matter what. The state gets a proportion of Pittman-Robertson funding – for those that aren’t familiar with it – there’s a tax every time you buy ammunition, rifle, archery equipment – I think even some boating things – there’s a tax on it – it’s called the Pittman-Robertson – it goes into the Pittman-Robertson Fund – it’s apportioned to the States based on population and being small as we are we get the – there’s a floor below which you can’t fall and that money comes back. It is available for the state. The county used that recently to rebuild some of the facilities at the shotgun range I’m not sure how much? Six-hundred thousand dollars in PR funding to do that. So those are the kinds of things that are available. It paid for the hunter education facility in Waimea. That is the money that built the building where they teach hunter education without any firearms training. TL: So, in any of the areas that you haven’t looked for anything that might represent a smaller footprint when you look at these areas – were any of them county properties that you looked at at all? RH: The county property up there up in Hamakua about twenty years ago... And I don’t remember why it was discarded but it was... JO: Really the shotgun facility is the only one that I remember off hand and for the reason I stated – it didn’t look like a promising avenue and we were told at the time that Hawaiian Homes had plans for some of that area behind there - not too distant future. KD: I get one question all on this – what is the chances of the military working with the county and the state? I mean, what he’s saying that he had some things that he’s looked at. And you stay crossing your t’s and dotting your i’s on safety. The county’s already taking care Mauna Kea State Park – so what is the chances of the county with the police department and everyone else that they help 29