STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1767

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.C.R. No. 69

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Water and Land, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 69, H.D. 1, entitled:

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES TO SUBMIT A PETITION TO LIST THE PUEO AS A THREATENED OR ENDANGERED SPECIES UNDER THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Department of Land and Natural Resources to submit a petition to list the pueo as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, Kawaihapai Ohana, Hawaii's Thousand Friends, and three individuals.

Your Committees find that the pueo is a species endemic to Hawaii and an aumakua of Hawaiian families. Under the federal definitions, a species is listed as either an endangered or threatened species depending on its status and the degree of threat it faces. The Department of Land and Natural Resources has listed the population of pueo on Oahu as endangered with extensive loss of habitat due to wide-ranging cattle pasturage, conversion of large tracts of undeveloped land to residential and commercial uses, the introduction of mammalian predators, and the trampling of nests by cattle. Due to its wide range and cryptic nature, no comprehensive population estimates have been conducted and relatively little information is available about the biology, habitat needs, limiting factors, or distribution of the pueo. Therefore, a listing petition would prioritize research and inventory on understanding population trends, distribution, genetics, and threat assessment in support of a federal listing determination.

Your Committees have amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Water and Land that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 69, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 69, H.D. 1, S.D. 1.

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

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair