HCR136

WHEREAS, the Department of Land and Natural Resources' Youth Conservation Corps program helps participants develop a sense of stewardship of the land and build valuable work experience through community service, training, and education; and

WHEREAS, a similar program utilizing Hawaii corrections inmates as conservation corps participants could work to protect and preserve Hawaii's natural environment and would prove to be beneficial for the State; and

WHEREAS, inmates who have earned community custody status can be educated and trained to help manage and protect Hawaii's natural resources; and

WHEREAS, an inmate conservation corps can provide assistance with trail maintenance, native plant restoration, invasive species control, wildlife management, fence building, stream and coastal restoration, and other conservation work; and

WHEREAS, being part of a conservation corps would encourage leadership, teamwork, communication, and responsibility among the inmate participants; and

WHEREAS, an inmate conservation corps would ideally include activities that promote:

(1) The importance of responsibility, dependability, punctuality, and good attendance;

(2) Worksite relations skills, including taking constructive criticism, working cooperatively with other corps members and staff, and western and traditional Hawaiian job skills;

(3) Life skills training, including instruction in conflict resolution, job search skills, personal money management, goal setting, and decision making; and

(4) Education for twenty hours each week on subjects such as genealogy, Hawaiian language and traditional practices, reading, math, communication skills, English language proficiency, academic preparation, and work-specific skills; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Department of Public Safety are requested to establish an inmate conservation corps pilot program on the island of Hawaii to perform resource conservation projects including, but not limited to, forest fire prevention, forest and watershed management, maintenance of recreation areas, fish and game management, soil conservation, forest and watershed re-vegetation, preventive maintenance or reconstruction of levees, or any other work necessary to prevent flood damage; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Department of Public Safety are requested to select participants for the inmate conservation corps pilot program that:

(1) Are classified as minimum security risk, are housed at a minimum security correctional facility, or have attained community custody status; and

(2) Have completed appropriate basic education and training so as to be prepared for additional education and training in natural resources conservation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Department of Public Safety are requested to:

(1) Ensure that participants are physically fit for work outdoors and are likely to be successful in completing conservation projects;

(2) Provide supervision for all inmate conservation corps program participants at all projects, and for each time the corps is at a site outside of a correctional facility; and

(3) Determine any fees to be collected for services provided by the corps; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Department of Public Safety are requested to submit a joint report to the Legislature of all activities relating to the inmate conservation corps pilot program, including findings, recommendations, and proposed legislation, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2009; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, the Director of Public Safety, and the Mayor of Hawaii County.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Resource Conservation; Inmate Conservation Corps Program

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	136
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII