HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 208 Draft 02 2008-2010COUNTY OF HAWAII
STATE OF HAWAII
RESOLUTION NO. 208 09
(DRAFT' 2)
A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF MAINTAINING THE `IO, OR HAWAIIAN HAWK
(BUTEO SOLITARIUS) ON THE FEDERAL LIST OF ENDANGERED AND
THREATENED WILDLIFE.
WHEREAS, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 provides a program for conservation
of threatened and endangered plants, animals and habitats in which they are found and the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior maintains a worldwide list which, as
of February, 2008 included 1,574 endangered species; and
WHEREAS, based on its restricted range on the Island of Hawaii and the well-
documented loss of native forest habitat from agriculture, logging, commercial development, and
natural risks, e.g. volcanic activity, volcano off gases (VOG), hurricanes, extreme weather
conditions, forest fires, West Nile, toxins, poisons, Ohia dieback, the `Io, or Hawaiian Hawk
(Buteo solitarius) was listed as endangered since March, 1967; and
WHEREAS, on August 5, 1993, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a proposed
rule to reclassify the `Io or Hawaiian Hawk from endangered to threatened, and funded athree-
month island-wide survey from December 1993 to February 1994, resulting in the decision to
abandon said reclassification; and
WHEREAS, in 1997, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service formed the `Io Recovery
Working Group (IRWG) to evaluate existing recovery goals, and to formulate new goals if
warranted and, in 1998 the IWRG concluded there was no substantive information to support
listing of the `Io, or Hawaiian Hawk under provisions of the Endangered Species Act, since the
study of 1998 the land development on Hawaii Island has seen enormous expansion, and the
study did not include cultural and religious impacts to native people of Hawaii; and
WHEREAS, at the time of the `Io's or Hawaiian Hawk's listing on the Federal list, the
designation of critical habitat for the `Io has never been identified under the Endangered Species
Act, therefore denying it full protection it could otherwise have enjoyed, and
WHEREAS, the `Io, or Hawaiian Hawk is respected and recognized as `uhane kapu
(sacred spirit) in kanaka maoli traditional spiritual practices, chants, mele and oli, worshiped as
`aumakua (family guardian spirit) by many kanaka maoli and present day `ohana through their
mo`oku`auhau (genealogical and totemic ancestry), and therefore should maintain its protection
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973; and
WHEREAS, the `Io is an intrinsic part of traditional Hawaiian religious practices which
is protected under the Federal Religious Freedom Act of 1978, Native American Free Exercise of
Religion Act of 1993, and the State of Hawaii Constitution, Article XII, Section 7, Hawaiian
Affairs, Traditional and Customary Rights; and
WHEREAS, their nesting, fledgling and perching habitat has been greatly reduced in
recent years and the `Io mate for life and build permanent nests in the highest Ohia trees to
which they return yearly to lay only one egg per mating season, and are therefore slow to build
up their population; and
WHEREAS, President Obama ordered federal agencies to halt all pending regulations
and publication of federal regulations planned but not yet published in the Federal Register and
the December 2008 "Draft Post-Delisting Monitoring Plan for the Hawaiian Hawk, or `Io (Buteo
solitarius)" is such a proposed federal regulation; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII urging
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to maintain the `Io, or Hawaiian Hawk (Buteo solitarius) on
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and continue
protection under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County Council of Hawaii acknowledges that
there exists documented and published archaeological evidence that the `Io, or Hawaiian Hawk
once nested and roamed throughout all the Islands of Hawaii, but is now limited and found
primarily on the Island of Hawaii.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the mere fact that the `Io, or Hawaiian Hawk exists
nowhere else except Hawaii Island, the development of agricultural lands, clear-cutting of
native forests, urbanization, and the delisting of the `Io currently occuring on Hawaii Island
poses ongoing threats to the `Io, Hawaiian Hawk's primary habitat and survival.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the County of Hawaii encourages a
safe habitat for the `Io, or Hawaiian Hawk (Buteo solitarius) on Hawaii Island and that cultural
traditions, spiritual practices and inter-relationship between kanaka maoli, `Io, or Hawaiian
Hawk (Buteo solitarius) and environment be encouraged, supported, perpetuated and protected.
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Clerk of the County of Hawai'i shall send a
copy of this resolution to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the Pacific Island Fish and Wildlife
Office; Endangered Species Division, Honolulu, Hawai'i; the Pacific Regional Office, Portland,
Oregon; the State of Hawai'i Board of Land and Natural Resources; the State of Hawai'i
Department of Land and Natural Resources; and the Honorable William Kenoi, Mayor of the
County of Hawai'i.
Dated at Kona , Hawai'i, this 19th day of
AUgust
,2009.
INTRODUCED BY:
COUNTY COUNCIL
County of Hawai'i
Hilo, Hawai'i
AYES NOES ASS EX
ENRIQUES X
FORD X
GREENWELL X
HOFFMANN X
IKEDA X
NAEOLE . X
ONISHI X
YAGONG X
YOSHIMOTO X
9 0 0 0
ROLL CALL VOTE
I hereby certify that the foregoing RESOLUT'ION was by
the vote indicated to the right hereof adopted by the COUNCIL of the
Couoty ofHawai'i on Auqust 19. 2009
ATTEST:
CHAIRPERSON & PRESIDING OFFICER
Reference: C-432. 3/PWI~>30
RESOLUT'ION NO. 208 09
(DRAFT 2)
3