Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources, to which was referred H.B. No. 2396 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to improve the scope and quality of forest reserve management and stewardship activities provided by the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) for the public benefit by:

DLNR, The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i, and Hawai'i Forest Industry Association testified in support of this bill. Sierra Club, Hawai'i Chapter, opposed this measure.

The current statute providing sources of funding for the Stewardship Fund excludes income from funds other than the income from the harvest and sale of certain forest products and tree seedlings, requiring those funds to be transferred to the general fund. Your Committee believes that by deleting confusing and contradictory language requiring this depository of "other moneys accrued from forest reserves or the products thereof," and requiring depository of these "other moneys" into the Stewardship Fund, DLNR will be better equipped to properly manage our state's treasured forest reserves.

Your Committee acknowledges and DLNR satisfactorily responded to concerns and caution expressed by the Sierra Club that the self-serving incentives of added revenues provided by this bill could create unintended consequences for the State's forest reserves. Your Committee emphasizes that the intent of this bill is not to create an incentive for ecotourism, bioprospecting, and forest harvesting activities, but to increase the revenues in the Stewardship Fund to improve management of the forest reserves.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Inserting a findings and purpose section; and

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2396, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2396, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.