STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2329

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2546

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 2546 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 require hunting guides to:

(1) Obtain written permission from the owners of private lands before taking their clients to hunt on the private land; and

(2) Submit a copy of the written permission to the Department of Land and Natural Resources as part of their annual reports.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources; Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau; Hawaii Cattleman's Council, Inc.; and one individual.

Your Committee finds that some hunting guides take their clients to hunt on private lands without obtaining permission from landowners, leading concerned landowners to report sightings of unknown persons walking on their land with guns or other weapons. Existing law prohibits hunters from hunting on private lands without first obtaining permission from the owner, but 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. This measure will alleviate the concerns of landowners by holding hunting tour guides accountable.

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. 2546, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2546, 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,

________________________________

LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair