Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 147 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to request the Auditor to conduct a financial and management audit of the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement.

Annette's Adventures, Hanalei Watershed Hui, Life of the Land, the Ocean Tourism Coalition, the Sierra Club, and six individuals submitted testimony in support of this measure. The Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs submitted comments on this measure.

Your Committee finds that there are significant jurisdictional, procedural, and administerial problems noted within the DLNR's Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement. Thus, this measure requests the Auditor to conduct an audit on this specific division's fiscal and management practices to serve as an objective baseline on whether it is being effectively administered or if improvements need to be made. Further, the audit would serve to clarify, augment, and improve the manner in which the division interacts with other DLNR divisions and state and county agencies.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 147, and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 147.