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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0208.037 2004-2006 filsr~aii Inva~ivQ ~p~~i~~ [~ian~l~~zrr~~nt ~ Cdu~~iior~ ~'©rpor~tian a'Fi~waii l~Qrz-~'r~Qr11 DATE: May 4, 2005 TO: Hawaii County Council Members FROM: Kim Tavares, President RE: In FULL SUPPORT of BILL 78, Land Conservation Funding Urgent, Timely Action Required TODAY In light of today's real estate boom, it is appropriate and timely to have this bill before you today. It is critically important that it pass this time around, because for many parcels there may not be another chance. The most recent real estate magazine displays clearly why this 2% reserve must be set aside immediately. Easily Double the Investment Funds set aside for land conservation can be matched to private, state and federal dollazs at a rate of at least 1:1, depending on the source. Together with those matching resources, a County contribution of two percent of its annual budget will make it possible to purchase large undeveloped land tracts like these. Without the fund there will be no match, and no outside support. Scrambling for funds and matches when the land goes to the market isn't soon or reliable enough to depend on. F,xample: Good candidate properties usually arrive on the market with little or no notice and they generally sell pretty quick. Four years from now, if we decide today to set aside half a million per year instead two, the cream of the crop in green space will likely be sold and developed immediately. When a sufficient fund exists, it will satisfy the requirements for acquiring larger land tracts and higher priced smaller parcels at wholesale, rather than retail prices, and it will be more attractive to federal dollars to be matched. This bill needs to pass today. Buyers & Sellers Market High-end private real estate deals today appear to be in the range of $2 million dollazs for 20 acres, give or take a few $100K or a few individual acres. Gentleman ranches, estates, ocean and Comm. No. ~ • 3 Ref. To: P? '~f. _~op~ 2~5 mountain views, streams and waterfalls, many privately owned and ready to develop today. Still, better, more valuable tracts could be on the market tomorrow. Urgency Due to Increased Land Sales Many high elevation private lands that substantially increase the watershed are potential subdivisions right now. It is ironic how the concern for water is low when the watershed is big, and how the concern will be very high, once the watershed is gone. I hope 1 don't have to look back twenty years from now on today, to reflect on how we knew at the time the bill should have passed, but it didn't, because the urgency was not apparent to everyone at the time. But set aside all the obvious reasons for the fund for now, and take a look at some of the rippling effects that could happen without it. What will happen when large amounts of land are developed? Bulldozed lands, scarred to bare rock and then developed on, will be disastrous to our environment, and criminal to those who will live here long after we are gone. Puna is already subdivided, but still it and Hilo have much more speculative development potential. What is happening all over subdivided Puna today is shocking. Dozing and ripping to bare rock is already occurring across the Puna watershed today, with no signs of relaxing any time soon. Floods! (Another Example): I remember what it was like during the last "100-year flood" of 2002, when the Volcano highway became the Volcano watercourse to Kea'au. I imagine the amount of water that will be absorbed and carried underground after all the development occurs will be much less, and more if it will run off the surface. There will be more water running, and more homes flooding than ever before.. Protect Long-Standing and Restored Natural Resources In the Hilo and Hamakua districts, watershed destruction happened so long ago that now much of it is recovering. What was once forest, then sugar, then pasture, and now for sale, can only be finally preserved by a conservation purchase. A significant gain on watershed lands has been made since the days of sugar cane and logging. It would crush the hopes and dreams of each of us who have ever planted a koa tree to see the restoration areas converted one final time to development. Your decision today will affect the future sustainability of Hawaii county residents, ten, twenty and one hundred years from now. I thank you for taking that giant leap for the future, to make the right choice. Support Bill 78 as I do, all the way. Thank-you. Hawaii Invasive Species Management & Education Corporation PO Box 338 -Volcano, Hawaii - 96785 Ph./Fax: 808-985-8596 kim@hismec.org