HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	82
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

urging the department of land and natural resources to explore the possibility of expanding the mount ka‘ala natural area reserve to include the slopes of mount ka‘ala, particularly in the waiAlua direction.

WHEREAS, the Mount Ka‘ala Natural Area Reserve was established by Executive Order No. 3099 on November 14, 1981, placing one thousand one hundred acres of rugged mountain terrain with a summit plateau, ridges, and gulches housing lowland forests, rich in native species, under the control and management of the Department of Land and Natural Resources; and

WHEREAS, the Mount Ka‘ala Natural Area Reserve is located in the Waianae Mountains on Oahu and encompasses the island's highest point, at a four thousand twenty foot elevation descending to one thousand two hundred feet; and

WHEREAS, according to the Department of Land and Natural Resources' website, the Mount Ka‘ala Natural Area Reserve is host to twelve natural communities, two of which are rare (lonomea lowland dry forest and Oahu diverse lowland mesic forest); two hundred eight total taxa of native plants, sixty-nine of which are rare; and eleven total taxa of native animals, seven of which are rare; and

WHEREAS, current management projects at the Mount Ka‘ala Natural Area Reserve include feral pig and non-native weed control, and an ongoing volunteer program has been useful in promoting environmental awareness and assisting with resource management on the reserve; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature set up the natural area reserve system in 1970, finding that the State possesses unique natural resources, such as geological and volcanological features and distinctive marine and terrestrial plants and animals, many of which occur nowhere else in the world, that are highly vulnerable to loss by the growth of population and technology; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature further found that these unique natural assets should be protected and preserved, both for the enjoyment of future generations and to serve as a base line in which to measure future changes in the environment; and

WHEREAS, the statewide natural area reserves system was established to preserve in perpetuity specific land and water areas which support communities, as relatively unmodified as possible, of the natural flora and fauna, as well as geological sites, of Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, to better safeguard the endemic species and complex ecosystems in the Mount Ka‘ala Natural Area Reserve, keep the reserve in as pristine condition as possible, and promote Hawaiian cultural preservation and native gathering rights, this body finds that the possibility of expanding the area of the reserve to include the slopes of Mount Ka‘ala, particularly in the Waialua direction, should be explored; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Land and Natural Resources, with the input of the Natural Area Reserves Systems Commission, is urged to explore the possibility of expanding the Mount Ka‘ala Natural Area Reserve to include the slopes of Mount Ka‘ala, particularly in the Waialua direction; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is requested to report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2023; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, and Chairperson of the Natural Area Reserves System Commission.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Mount Ka‘ala Natural Area Reserve; Expansion; DLNR; Natural Area Reserves Systems Commission