HomeMy WebLinkAboutComm No 0003.01.36 - Testimony - Ad Hoc - PONC fund and Maintenance fundFrom: Jane Rubey <honua-aloha@earthlink.net>
Sent: Saturday, December 8, 2018 8:01 AM
To: Charter Commission
Subject: Strengthen the Land Fund - It Serves to Strengthen the County!
Importance: High
Aloha Charter Commission members,
I am writing this message to weigh in, as a very concerned Hawaii resident, regarding the pending issue of cutting the
Hawaii County Land Conservation Fund.
Other counties in Hawaii, and across the nation, use tax supported land conservation funds to leverage other federal
funding for land conservation efforts within their jurisdictions. In many cases they can double the number of dollars
they have to protect sensitive and valued habitats and ecosystems that in turn support their communities with green
infrastructure services and tourism dollars. In our state of Hawaii where we are indeed reliant upon tourism revenue to
sustain our economy, it would be short sighted to discount the long term benefits of sustaining strong land conservation
practices within our county.
The citizens of this County have — more than once — voted to establish, expand, and maintain this fund, because they
recognize that the keiki of our communities deserve a sustainable ecologically sound landscape to face the future of
climate change and expanding ecosystem loss. I content, that this wisdom should not be ignored. We cannot afford to
continue losing sustainable systems when the health of our environments are in flux — "Rapid Ohia Death" being a clear
example of that flux!
I hold an advanced degree in Environmental Science, having worked professionally in the field of land conservation for
decades, and can readily say that the sustained financial value of land conservation remains consistently underrated and
overlooked. The balance sheet seldom considers the longer term role that protected natural lands provide in sustaining
critical ecological functions on the landscape, such as: water supply from aquifer recharge, toxin and sediment filtration,
flood attenuation, habitat support for fisheries, etc. etc. etc. Certainly not all ecosystems provide all of these services,
but many core ecologically intact areas are critical elements for green infrastructure services that our human
communities rely upon. Under the escalating effects of climate change protecting these areas is no longer a minor
issue, but a MAJOR one! Conservation of ecosystem function is not a frivolous issue but rather an Essential Survival
Need. And that survival need is for humans and the long term sustainability of these islands.
Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture has worked in recent years with the Pacific Islands Climate Change Cooperative,
addressing the science behind climate changes and the effects these changes will have on ecosystems across the
state. Suffice it to say that some radical shifts are ahead — in the very near future (potentially even a decade or so) - for
which sustaining core levels of ecosystem function will be much more critical than ever before.
Under the current Hawaii Island Land Conservation Fund, citizens have proposed 180 properties and only 14 have been
acquired. To move conservation efforts faster, the County should have a dedicated staff member who works ONLY
on the 2% Land Fund Program. This would result in more properties being acquired, more matching funds being
obtained and more stewardship grants being awarded. Apparently in the last 14 years, 4,400 acres have been acquired
on the Big Island for a cost of $27 million, one third of which was from matching funds. With the additional Ka'u
property of 2,200 acres closing soon.
Essential to this effort, are two additional items:
1 Comm. No. 3.1.36
1) retaining the maintenance fund that allows for the proper care of the protected land, since without it the integrity
of the land cannot be preserved, and
2) keeping the covenant which protects these lands in perpetuity which says:
"This property (or easement) was acquired with money from the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources
Preservation Fund. It shall be held in perpetuity for the use and enjoyment of the people of Hawai'i County and may not
be sold, mortgaged, traded or transferred in any way."
These are fundamental and core needs that I have raised, and I implore the council to reflect carefully upon them, as the
future health of Hawaii Island is really reliant upon the kuleana we bear to malama'aina, so the'aina can malama us!
Mahalo,
III:uIbe
Partnership Coordinator (Retired)
Clllllf'IIIC Il3111llROS Habitat,Joint Venture
www. acificbirds.or
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