RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the natural environment of our lands and surrounding ocean are what make Hawaii unique in the world; and

WHEREAS, maintaining the natural environment is essential to the social, cultural, and economic well-being of the State; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Land and Natural Resources is mandated with the responsibility to protect and maintain all public and conservation lands, water resources, submerged lands, natural area reserves, historical and cultural resources, native flora and fauna, aquatic resources, and small boat harbors and ocean recreation; and

WHEREAS, on December 31, 2003, the Department of Land and Natural Resources had a total of one hundred sixty-one vacant positions, representing approximately twenty-two per cent of its permanent positions; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Land and Natural Resources appears to have engaged in an intentional and deliberate practice of keeping positions unfilled to reap "vacancy savings"; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Land and Natural Resources receives funding from a number of sources, including but not limited to the general fund, capital improvement funds, Hawaii Tourism Authority, Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii, Special Land and Development Fund, conveyance tax, boating fund, United States Fish and Wildlife Service funds, United States Department of Agriculture Wetland Reserve funds, United States Department of the Interior National Parks Service funds; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature is concerned with the transparency of the funding sources, expenditures, and overall fiscal management of the Department of Land and Natural Resources; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature is also concerned with the continued practice of maintaining significant numbers of vacant positions in the Department of Land and Natural Resources; and

WHEREAS, recent months have seen the departure of a significant percentage of upper level departmental administrative personnel that may be symptomatic of wide-ranging and deep-rooted managerial problems within the Department; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature is further concerned that in its present state the Department of Land and Natural Resources may not be capable of fulfilling its broad mandate to protect and maintain the natural resources of the State; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the Senate concurring, that the Auditor is requested to conduct a management and fiscal audit of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, to include but not be limited to the following:

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to report any findings and recommendations, including proposed legislation, to the Legislature not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2007; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor and the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

Report Title:

Department of Land and Natural Resources; Audit