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DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES News Release LINDA LINGLE GOVERNOR _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PETER T. YOUNG, CHAIRPERSON
Phone: (808) 587-0401
Fax: (808) 587-0390
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For Immediate Release:
Public hearings scheduled December 5-21, 2006 |
HONOLULU -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have announced the formation of what will be the first statewide “safe harbor agreement” for Hawaii. A series of public hearings are being held starting December 5 to allow the public to provide comments on the draft agreement. “This agreement will be yet another great example of cooperative conservation that streamlines our ability to form partnerships with private landowners to help recover our state’s endangered species,” said Peter Young, DLNR chairperson. The safe harbor agreement will provide cooperating landowners assurances that future land use requirements will not be imposed because of conservation efforts carried out under NRCS Farm Bill conservation programs throughout the state. To be eligible, landowners must be enrolled in an NRCS Farm Bill Conservation Program and making improvements to wetlands, riparian or uplands habitat that will benefit any of the five covered endangered birds: Hawaiian Goose (Nene), Hawaiian Duck (Koloa maoli), Hawaiian Moorhen (‘Alae ‘ula), Hawaiian Coot (‘Alae ke’oke’o), and Hawaiian Stilt (Ae’o). Patrick Leonard, field supervisor for the Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office, said “This safe harbor agreement adds even more incentive to Hawaii’s farmers and ranchers to protect and recover endangered species while retaining their property use rights.” This agreement will be the sixth safe harbor agreement in Hawaii and the second that is “programmatic,” or covering multiple landowners. NRCS administers several programs created under the Farm Bill to alleviate environmental impacts of agriculture and offer financial and technical assistance to address resource concerns, including management of endangered species habitat. Local NRCS staff will deliver the Farm Bill portion of the agreement, and Hawaii’s four Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) Councils will administer individual landowner agreements and conduct outreach, and DLNR and USFWS will provide expertise on endangered species and the safe harbor agreement program. "We are pleased to partner in this service to the community, our colleagues, and our environment," said Lawrence T. Yamamoto, NRCS Director of the Pacific Islands Area. "Safe harbor agreements are of interest nation-wide and this will be a very important process we are taking seriously in our agency," he said. DLNR has published a notice in the Office of Environmental Quality Control’s Environmental Notice offering the public the opportunity to review and comment on the agreement and associated documents. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will publish a notice in the Federal Register at a later date. A series of public hearings will be held to allow the public to provide comments on the draft safe harbor agreement. All hearings will begin at 7 p.m. The draft agreement is available at selected public libraries as well as the DLNR Forestry and Wildlife offices on each island, the USFWS office in Honolulu (792-9400), and online at http://www.state.hi.us/dlnr/dofaw/pubs/index.html. Deadline for comments on the safe harbor agreement is January 7, 2007, and they should be submitted to the Conservation Initiatives Coordinator, Division of Forestry and Wildlife, 1151 Punchbowl Street, Room 325, Honolulu, HI 96813. For more information, contact:
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