Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 2359 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to allow the revenue derived from the forest reserves to be deposited into the Forest Stewardship Fund for the management of the State Forest Reserve System.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Hawaii Forest Industry Association, and the Nature Conservancy. Comments were also submitted by the Sierra Club.

Currently, the Forest Stewardship Fund is funded by the sales of timber from forest reserves or from the sales of seedlings at state tree nurseries. The revenue from the fund is used to maintain cabins, campgrounds, road accesses, signage, fences, and other forest enhancements and management activities. Your Committee finds that additional categories of revenue should be used to replenish this fund. This measure authorizes the revenues from the forest reserves, as well as the moneys from:

Your Committee noted concerns that this additional stream of revenue may be an incentive for the department to encourage the over-capitalization of our forest reserve resources through activities like the abusive harvesting of trees. Thus, your Committee amended this measure to address this concern by:

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 is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2359, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2359, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.