2017-11-8 Game Management Advisory Commission Minutes

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Hawaii Game Management Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes – November 8, 2017 cannot say that I never saw sheep damage on those trees up there in Kaohe but I can guarantee that they was barking at trees because there was no water for them to be drinking and that’s the way they – all animals need water – you cannot tell me that oh, those animals no need water – cause if you take that same animals and you lock ‘em in one corral without any water they’ll be dead in a week and you know that. I want to get back to the game management area designation. There’s a couple that I’m looking at in here – so now I understand your cooperative – Puuwaawaa is a forest reserve – Puuanahulu is still a game management area – still designated as a GMA. Mauna Loa Forest and GMA is that still correct? DS: I’m just trying to tell you that large numbers of animals can have a huge impact on the forest. If you fly by Lanai, I mean, some of those beaches on Lanai are just red dirt beaches. TL: I understand all that. My question to you was, what does game do to decrease the water supply in our forest in our watershed? DS: Well the forests are – the Division of Forestry was Territory of Forestry and Ag – it started out – we were the first in the nation – pre-dated the Forest Service – we started because people saw the animals in the forest were a threat to our forests and a threat to our water supplies. So our Division of Forestry was started primarily to protect watershed forests to sustain water supplies for the islands. TL: Water supply. OK. So how does a game animal impact the water supply? DS: Damaging the forest by browsing, grazing. TL: The DLNR keeps making these statements that our animals are destroying the watershed and our water supply and I’d like to know how they’re destroying the water supply. You don’t have surface water drinking here so how does it destroy the water supply. DS: Cause it impacts the ability to infiltrate. And if you take away the forests then the water runs off. So that’s why I was trying to make... TL: Where has it on this island impacted infiltration of the ocean? DS: You’ve lost hundreds of thousands of acres of forest on this island from animals. OK. TL: I would like to see that data because the 2011 U.S.G.S. Water Budget Model – have you read that? DS: We’re doing a bunch of research on that right now. 7