2017-07-25 Game Management Advisory Commission Minutes

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Hawai’i Game Management Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes – July 25, 2017 about whether you leave the organism in the habitat or remove it from the habitat. So who makes that decision? PB: At least in the US that would be the US Fish & Wildlife Service. They are the entity that somebody’s gonna sue – either because they don’t want that endangered species on their land or they do – they want to see recovery, that is the agency that gets sued and the state can be folded into that because – at least here – they have also responsibility for endangered species so the guys that get sued are the guys that are gonna make these decisions... DY: So these are the guys-the results of research. PB: That’s exactly right. WJC: I understand you are doing the research on pretty much the bird itself so that kind of takes me back to Ike’s question as far as the management. What are we actively doing to try and help besides getting rid of the sheep? Who’s trying to manage any of this? PB: Good question and I don’t want to characterize what the managers are doing or I’ll characterize it but I’m gonna be very careful as I characterize it because that’s their kuleana. If I was in the shoes of the managers – if I was a manager sitting here right now – I would be telling you that I have dozens of dozens of species – endangered species – plants, birds, whatever – that I’m responsible for managing and saving and I don’t have a budget that can cover a fraction of it. I’m not trying to make excuses for anybody but I’m just saying if I was the manager – that would be my reality. WJC: This brings us to the point where again - I commend you on 25+ years of research on all of these things but I would think it would be kind of frustrating on your part too, that you’re watching these species decline and nobody’s really honestly doing anything about it. PB: That’s right... WJC: We all know that – there’s no management plan for anything... PB: There are plans - like good intentions are only as good as the paper they’re on. It is very frustrating – I learned from my dad, that if you’re gonna be in the endangered species business – this is what it is – it’s mostly things going downhill and very few opportunities to get something going in the opposite direction – and it does happen. We see this with nene – that after decades and decades – I’m not totally comfortable with that it’s recovered but it’s like well it’s way better then it was in the sixties and seventies. I think it’s frustrating for everybody. I won’t say it’s a no-win situation – because I think there could be some wins but so far there’s not been one Hawaiian bird that 15