HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	9
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES TO WORK WITH THE UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE TO IMPLEMENT A NATIVE PLANT SEEDING PROJECT IN MILILANI MAUKA TO RESTORE THE ECOLOGICAL DAMAGE FROM THE NOVEMBER 2023 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 shrubs 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 2023, 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 is urged to work with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to implement a native plant seeding project on the lands impacted by the November 2023 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 Fish and Wildlife Administrators and Project Leader of the Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, Administrator of the Division of Forestry and Wildlife of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, and Administrator of the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Report Title:

Wildfire Prevention; Native Plants; Department of Land and Natural Resources; United States Fish and Wildlife Service; Mililani Mauka