HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0988.005 2018-2020Council of the County of Hawai i
25 Aupuni Street Room 1401
Hilo, HI 96720
July 7, 2020. 9 a.m.
Re: Bill 178
Dear Hawai `i County Council members,
COUNTY CLERK
COUNTY OF HAWAI'I
RECEIVED.
Time y:�i5�ifs1' By
Date .2020
I am writing to express my very strong support for Bill 178 which amends and updates the
county code for -native forest dedications. Since 1992 T have dedicated my professional and
personal life to the conservation and restoration of Hawaii's native forests. Bill 178 is a novel
and forward -thinking process to engage the public to play a role in the stewardship of our forests.
My master's and doctorate degrees from the University of Hawaii coupled with my 20 -year
career as a scientist for the USDA Forest Service in Hawaii have opened my eyes to the reality
of protecting and restoring our native forests in Hawaii. Despite dedicated efforts to fight
threats to Hawaii's native ecosystems, we are losing the war.
Resources to protect remaining native areas and save
endangered species are entirely inadequate for slowing down,
let alone halting, the loss of Hawaii's native species and
ecosystems. While many lands across Hawaii have
conservation status, invasive non-native pathogens, plants, and
animals are rapidly destroying our native ecosystems. Less than
half of Hawai'i's land area currently remains as native
dominated vegetation (Table 1). In addition, less than 5% of
these areas are adequately managed to ensure their future
survival. The current trajectory -for these ecosystems is one of
continued rapid degradation and loss, and global climate change
' will likely accelerate the pace of this decline. If we continue
along our current trajectory, within the lifetimes of our children,
Hawaii will lose most of her remaining native ecosystems and
with them, many of the native plants and animals they support.
Hawaii has already lost over a thousand species of plants,
birds, and invertebrates to extinction, and leads the United
States in numbers of plants and animals listed as threatened or
endangered (394 federally listed threatened or endangered
Ecosystem
Percent of
Types
original
Ecosystem
Remaining
Lowland Dry
Forest
5%
Lowland
Mesic Forest
17%
Lowland wet
Forest
53%
Montane Dry
Forest
o
41/o
Montane
44%
Mesic Forest
Montane wet
90%
Forest
Subalpine
90%
Alpine
99%
Total
46%
species). One out o every t ree native Hawarlan p ants is
already extinct, endangered, or at -risk of becoming endangered. Any efforts proposed by
county, state and or federal agencies to enhance and encourage public involvement in forest
stewardship will help us transform our relationship with the land, water, plants, and animals
that sustain and inspire us.
While efforts to restore native ecosystems are ongoing, the challenges often outweigh the effort
(i.e. invasive species, invasive pathogens such as Rapid Ohia Death, wildfires, and drought). The
categories proposed in Bill 178, including functional and successional forests are innovative and
based in reality. The promotion of functional forests — i.e. using native and non-native but
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noninvasive species is groilided on long-term research showing a reduction in weedy species
and a promotion of native species while also reducing the amount of maintenance effort. Non-
native/noninvasive species can include many, of .our beloved canoe plants such as Ulu, Niu,
Kukui, Kou, Kamani and Ti, thereby; adding utility and sustenance while conserving native
biodiversity. -
The preservation of successional (lava) lands put forth in Bill 178 is the most forward -thinking
aspect of this bill. To many — these lands have no value, but for a native forest they are a
welcome map to begin life. Ecological succession is defined as the process of change in the
species structure of an ecological community over time. Species that arrive first in a newly
created environment (such as a lava flow) are called pioneer species, and they, through their
interactions with one another, build biological communities. In a sense — the protection of
successional lands is the ultimate form of natural restoration. Further, our iconic and beloved
`Ohi`a lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) is one of the only woody species (native or nonnative)
that can thrive in this environment. By encouraging protection of successional lands, we are
protecting the future of 'Ohi`a.
For these reasons I urge you to support these amendments. This is for our future.
With Aloha,
Susan Cordell, PhD