The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is seeking public input on its updated Hawaii State Wildlife Action Plan, which lays out the strategy and plans of the department and its partners to address the conservation needs of Hawaii’s native wildlife during the next 10 years.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is seeking public input on its updated Hawaii State Wildlife Action Plan, which lays out the strategy and plans of the department and its partners to address the conservation needs of Hawaii’s native wildlife during the next 10 years.
Two Hawaii Island meetings are slated this week. The first will be held Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the DLNR Division of Forestry Hawaii Branch office at 19 E. Kawili St. in Hilo. The second will be held Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Waimea Community Center, 65-1260 Kawaihae Road in Waimea.
The State Wildlife Action Plan reviews the status of the state’s native terrestrial and aquatic species, more than 10,000 of which are found nowhere else on earth, and presents strategies for long-term conservation of these species and their habitats.
The plan is being updated to continue the coordinated and comprehensive planning, and implementation of conservation strategies and actions to manage and restore native wildlife.
The 2015 plan contains a comprehensive description of the wildlife resources of the state, and an explanation of the major threats and challenges facing native wildlife. It identifies species of greatest conservation need and their habitats, and includes the strategies for addressing the conservation needs of those species and their habitats.
It also calls for expanding and strengthening the partnerships that have been developed to implement the plan. The 2015 plan is a progression of the 2005 first edition of this plan, then called the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy, and continues the collaborative effort among resource managers, biologists, and concerned individuals statewide that began with the 2005 plan, the department said.
The deadline for completing and submitting the plan to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is Oct. 1. The deadline for public comments to be submitted is Aug. 31.
Completion of the plan will also enable DLNR’s ongoing participation in the national State Wildlife Grant Program, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which provides more $450,000 annually for projects to conserve native wildlife. This plan identifies the projects, strategies and priorities for Department funding under this grant program.
A copy of the 2015 draft State Wildlife Action Plan is available for review on the DLNR website at https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/wildlife/files/2015/07/SWAP-2015-Pub-draft.pdf.
Written comments on the draft SWAP may be submitted to Division of Forestry and Wildlife, 1151 Punchbowl St., Rm. 325, Honolulu, HI 96813. Email comments may be submitted to: John.P.Vetter@hawaii.gov.