STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1318

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    GOV. MSG. NOS. 690, 691

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred Governor's Message Nos. 690 and 691, submitting for study and consideration the nominations of: 

Natural Area Reserves System Commission

G.M. No. 690	CARL CHRISTENSEN, for a term to expire 6-30-2017; and
G.M. No. 691	JOHN SINTON, for a term to expire 6-30-2017,

begs leave to report as follows:

     Your Committee has reviewed the personal histories, resumes, and statements submitted by the nominees and finds Carl Christensen and John Sinton to possess the requisite qualifications to be nominated to the Natural Area Reserves System Commission.

CARL CHRISTENSEN

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination of Carl Christensen from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Dean of the William S. Richardson School of Law, and seven individuals.

     Carl Christensen is a graduate of the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College, where he received a Master in Laws degree in environmental law.  He received a Juris Doctorate (cum laude) from Harvard Law School, and a Doctorate of Philosophy in zoology from the University of Arizona.  Mr. Christensen is currently a Legislative Researcher for the Hawaii State Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor.  He served previously as a law clerk for the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund in Honolulu and as a law clerk for the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation.  Mr. Christensen also served as a staff attorney for the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation for ten years.  He has written extensively in professional journals concerning conservation issues.

JOHN SINTON

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination of John Sinton from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and three individuals.

     John Sinton is a Professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics of the University of Hawaii.  He received a Bachelor's degree in Geology from the University of California at Santa Barbara; a Master's degree in Geology from the University of Oregon; and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Geology from the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.  Dr. Sinton's professional expertise is in igneous petrology, volcanology, Hawaiian geology, marine geology, geochemistry of volcanic materials used in Polynesian tool making, and geochemical analysis using X-ray fluorescence.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that are attached to this report, your Committee, after full consideration of the background, experience, and qualifications of the nominees, has found the nominees to be qualified for the positions to which nominated and recommends that the Senate advise and consent to the nominations.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water and Land,

____________________________

MALAMA SOLOMON, Chair