2018-07-02 Game Management Advisory Commission Minutes

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Hawaii Game Management Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes – July 2, 2018 individuals to come in and fish whereas other people are not allowed to do that – but because they were part of that original bill they have access rights. So in 1961 – was the separation of Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park so from Hawaii National Park it went into two different parks. And then finally, we just have two additional ones that were really focused in the Park and this was the Olaa Tract in 1978 was added – a portion of the ahupuaa of Olaa and it’s managed as a wilderness and “wilderness” is a very specific designation also by an act of congress – it’s a law – when it was implemented in the 70s – that allows the managing agency to treat the access and activities on that land by a strict set of rules that maintains a specific set of values that allows visitors into the wilderness to experience the natural sounds, sights and nature without being disturbed – so without a lot of background noise – no engine noises – no things like that – so it’s a natural environment and they want to keep it as close to the natural environment as they can. Now the final piece of legislation that came into play for Hawaii Volcanoes is the Act of 2000 – now what this did was it allowed the Park Service to acquire lands on adjacent boundaries and this was last implemented – well, it may be implemented quite soon here – but the largest piece that we acquired was the Kahuku section that was 117,000 acres of Kahuku Ranch and a location that was rarely visited by the general public and now it is open as a public area and even cowboys who knew the area but had not had access to it unless they had cattle there – love going to see the Kahuku area. So finally here I’ve just posted again the National Park Service Acts and for all to read once again as this is really the focus of the National Park Service – it is what makes us National Park Rangers no matter what our specific job for the National Park may be. So we are all public servants and speaking for myself – it has been a most remarkable experience. Thank you very much and here we are looking into the crater as it’s changing daily. Do you have any questions? TL: The National Park has been of interest to everybody in Hawaii for a long time. Also to the people here who are interested in the Park – about hunting. And that hunting was never part of the Park but everybody in here can tell you there’s been hunting going on in the Park for years and up until the 70s or maybe in the 80s. It is still a concern. We have a gentleman here from Honolulu who is also going to be talking to us about the erosion of rights of people and one of those rights is hunting. I’m not laying this on anyone – but the rest of your presentation is of interest to me – especially the expansion – Is the total 230 today? LS: Three hundred and thirty thousand. TL: Three hundred and thirty thousand. This is a concern of ours – we enjoy having the opportunity to have people like yourself help us and explain. NP: Right. You mentioned preservation of cultural rights. 6