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COUNTY OF HAWAII <br />STATE OF HAWAII <br />ORDINANCE NO. <br />BILL NO. 178 <br />AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 19, ARTICLE 8, SECTION 19-59, OF THE <br />HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO <br />NATIVE FOREST DEDICATIONS. <br />BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII: <br />SECTION 1. Purpose. The purpose of this ordinance is to create three native forest <br />categories: native forests, functional forests, and successional forests. This ordinance will also <br />establish a dedication process for forest preservation and forest restoration. <br />SECTION 2. Chapter 19, article 8, section 19-59, of the Hawaii County Code 1983 (2016 <br />Edition, as amended) is amended to read as follows: <br />"Section 19-59. Native forest dedications. <br />(a) Native forest categories. <br />[(a)] LD "Native forests" means lands which have sixty percent -or greater native species forest <br />cover. <br />[0}](A) Native species are defined as those species that are either endemic or indigenous <br />to the Hawaiian islands. [Ladigeneus] Native species in this context shall mean <br />plants that became established or evolved in the Hawaiian islands without the aid <br />of human beings. <br />[�](M The forest cover requirement may be met by native species in either the tree layer <br />or the understory layer, or a combination of the two; provided a minimum <br />twenty-five percent of the forest cover shall contain tree cover. <br />(2) "Functional forests" means lands which have sixty percent or greater native species forest <br />cover combined with non-native/non-invasive species forest cover. <br />(A) Non-native/non-invasive species are defined as those species that are not native <br />to the Hawaiian islands, having arrived with human help, which do not invade or <br />overtake native species habitat and have a Hawaii -Pacific Weed Risk <br />Assessment score of six or less, with seven or more being a designation of high <br />risk. Exceptions to the score must be justified in the forest management plan or <br />forest restoration plan. <br />(B) The forest cover requirement may be met by native species and non-native/non- <br />invasive species in either the tree laver or the understor�layer, or a combination <br />of the two; provided a minimum twenty percent of the forest cover shall <br />contain tree cover and a minimum of half of the forest cover shall contain native <br />species. <br />