HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	9
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

URGING The department of land and natural resources to implement native plant seeding projects in mililani Mauka to restore the ecological damage from the november wildfires.

WHEREAS, plants native to Hawaii are essential to a sustainable ecosystem because many are drought-tolerant and

require less maintenance through fertilizing and pruning; and

WHEREAS, planting native species helps maintain and preserve the critical biodiversity that makes Hawaii unique; and

WHEREAS, non-native grasses and shrubs are highly flammable and perpetuate devastating wildfires; and

WHEREAS, non-native plants such as grasses and shrub that have been introduced into the island ecosystem are accustomed to wildfires and easily reoccupy lands that have been recently scorched by wildfires; and

WHEREAS, in November of last year wildfires damaged 2.5 square miles of the critical ecosystem in Mililani Mauka, including the Oahu Forest National Wildlife Refuge and Koolau Mountains; and

WHEREAS, Mililani Mauka's impacted lands featured a native forest of koa trees, uluhe fern, and twenty-two federally designated endangered or threatened species that will be vulnerable to invasive species takeover during ecosystem recovery; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2024, that the Department of Land and Natural Resources initiate a project to implement native plant seeding on the lands impacted by the November wildfires in Mililani Mauka to protect the area from the threat of similar devastation in the future; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, Administrator of the Division of Forestry and Wildfire, and Administrator of the Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Wildfire Prevention; Native Plants; Department of Land and Natural Resources; Mililani Mauka.