2019 01-29 Game Management Advisory Commission Minutes

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Hawaii Game Management Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes – January 29, 2019 NP: There are numerous places around the world where they use sheep and goat herds to control grass fire fuels. It’s a common method known and proven all over the world. DF: My community, Waikoloa Village, uses goat herds around the perimeter to create a fire break. I’m not suggesting we load up the mountain with goats because they tend to be browsers, you know, you can see them reaching up and trying to eat the leaves of the trees. Sheep, I know, tend more to be grazers than browsers but I understand they will eat some of the mamani – the low hanging mamani leaves and the seedlings. SM: Stanley from District 1. The reason they do eat the trees is because they don’t have a water source. If they had water then they’ll eat the grasses and not the trees. DF: I think, in terms on consistency, cause I’ve heard that argument also – if you set-up their water source in the areas where you’d like to have them operating they will tend to hang in those areas because a lot of that mountain is dry. GD: George, District 9. What can the Commission do in this regard, really? DF: I don’t know. The one thing that I do want to say is – I’m gonna push this issue forward but I don’t want to push it forward as a hunting issue, OK, I know that hunters have a lot of history and are angry about what’s been going on. The problem is if we push it forward as a “hunting issue” it’s gonna alienate other people who might become allies if we keep it as a public safety issue. So I’m not sure what the commission can do except be aware and maybe spread knowledge of the problem, you know, that there is a potential public safety issue here. NP: Before you go, Don, could you tell us about your experience of bird hunting? DF: I only started hunting four years ago and it was a fabulous year and I have to credit that to probably just natural population growth. It’s been kind of going downhill since then – I have notice the grass is growing – this year was a fairly disappointing year. I did talk to Kanalu about his comment and Kanalu said, well, the statistics show that last year, you know, was like a little over one person per bird – per hunter per trip – now it’s a little less than one person per hunter per trip so it’s not bad but the birds aren’t where we used to find them and they – it’s just been disappointing trying to push through the grass – trying to find them – as things have dried out – things have gotten a little bit better and I’m not sure if it’s because the birds can get through the grasses but, yeah, it’s been slow. You know who has a lot more experience is Brian Ley has hunted a lot more than I have and I’ve hunted with him – maybe he can comment also because I’ve taken a lot of days off this season. 7