STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2030

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2802

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 2802 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HUNTING ON PRIVATE LANDS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require persons who wish to access private land for hunting to first obtain written permission from the land owner.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture, Hawaii Farm Bureau, and Babooze Bowstrings.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and one individual.

     Your Committee finds that existing law is inadequate to deter persons with firearms or other weapons from trespassing on lands and potentially causing bodily injury to others, or damage to property, livestock, and crops; these trespassing occurrences have been especially egregious on farms and ranches.  Your Committee therefore finds that a requirement that hunters receive written permission from private landowners prior to entering private lands will help to mitigate safety and vandalism concerns.

     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. 2802 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

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

________________________________

MIKE GABBARD, Chair