Public Meetings Set for DLNR’s SWAP

Two Big Island public input meetings will be held by the Department of Land and Natural Resources regarding the department’s updated Hawai’i State Wildlife Action Plan.

The SWAP presents the strategy and plans of the DLNR and its partners in order to address the conservation needs of Hawai’i’s native wildlife over the next 10 years.

A meeting will be held in Hilo on Wednesday, Aug. 19 at the DLNR Division of Forestry Hawai’i Branch office conference room. Another meeting will be held in Waimea on Thursday, Aug. 20 at the Waimea Community Center. Both meetings will begin at 6 p.m. and go through 8 p.m.

The updated version of the SWAP reviews the status of the state’s native terrestrial and aquatic species. DLNR says that over 10,000 of the species are found nowhere else on earth. The plan also presents strategies for long-term conservation.

Updates on the SWAP are for the continued coordination and completion of comprehensive planning and implementation of conservation strategies and actions to manage and restore wildlife.

Once the DLNR completes the plan, the department will also be allowed to join the national State Wildlife Grant Program, which is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Under the updated plan, more than $450,000 each year will be provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conserve native wildlife.

The program’s 2015 upgrades build on conservation successes since 2005. In the newest draft, the SWAP calls for expanding and strengthening the partnerships that were developed to implement the plan.

DLNR must complete and submit the SWAP to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services by Oct. 1, 2015.

In addition to the meetings held on the Big Island, DLNR will host meetings on O’ahu, Kaua’i, Maui, Moloka’i, and Lana’i.

To submit written comments write: Division of Forestry and Wildlife, 1151 Punchbowl St. Room 325, Honolulu, HI 96813.

Comments can also be e-mailed to [email protected].

Public comments will be open until Aug. 31.

To learn more about the 2015 draft State Wildlife Action Plan, visit the DLNR website.