STAND. COM. REP. NO. 571

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 775

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 775 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HUNTING GUIDES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require hunting guides who take their clients to hunt on private lands to first obtain written permission from the owner of the private land, or occupier or holder, where appropriate; and

(2) Require hunting guides to provide copies of the written permissions obtained to hunt on private lands as part of their annual reports to the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources; Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, Inc.; and three individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that with the rising popularity of guided hunting tours, some hunting guides are taking their clients to hunt on private lands without obtaining permission from the landowners, and landowners have alarmingly witnessed unknown persons walking on their land with guns or other weapons. Your Committee finds that while existing law prohibits hunters from hunting on private lands without first obtaining permission from the landowner, some hunting guides misrepresent to their clients that they have obtained verbal permission from the landowner, leading to disagreements and allegations of trespassing, which damages the reputation of the State's guided hunting tour industry. Therefore, this measure requires hunting guides who take their clients to hunt on private lands to first obtain written permission from the owner of the private land, or occupier or holder, where appropriate, and requires hunting guides to provide copies of the written permissions obtained to hunt on private lands as part of their annual reports to the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 775, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 775, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water and Land,

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair