STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1631

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    GOV. MSG. NO. 731

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred Governor's Message No. 731, submitting for study and consideration the nomination of: 

Natural Area Reserves System Commission

G.M. No. 731

NATHAN YUEN, for a term to expire 6-30-2017,

begs leave to report as follows:

     Your Committee has reviewed the personal history, resume, and statement submitted by the nominee and finds Nathan Yuen to possess the requisite qualifications to be nominated to the Natural Area Reserves System Commission.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of Nathan Yuen from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawai‘i Nature Center, Conservation Council for Hawai‘i, Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, and thirteen individuals.

     Nathan Yuen received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a double major in Accounting and Management Information Systems from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, College of Business Administration.  He received a Master of Business Administration degree from Hawai‘i Pacific University.  The nominee currently works for InSynergy Engineering, Inc., where he provides engineering services and administration support to project managers overseeing projects in Hawai‘i, Guam, Japan, and other sites throughout the Pacific region. 

     Nathan Yuen states in his resume that he loves to hike to remote parts of the Hawaiian Islands to photograph and blog about the rarely seen native plants and animals that live there.  He created the Year of the Hawaiian Forest calendar for the State of Hawai‘i in 2003.  He is a member of the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, Sierra Club of Hawai‘i, and Hawai‘i Audubon Society.

     Your Committee notes the following excerpt from the nominee's personal statement:  "I'd like to be on the Natural Area Reserves Commission to help save rare and endangered native Hawaiian plants and animals.  For the past 15 years I have been an amateur naturalist/hiker/ photographer/blogger where I have hiked to remote parts of the islands to photograph and blog about these unique creatures . . . Hawai‘i is known as the extinction capitol of the world.  The NARS Commission can play a big part in reversing this unenviable distinction."

     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, after full consideration of the background, experience, and qualifications of the nominee, has found the nominee to be qualified for the position to which nominated and recommends that the Senate advise and consent to the nomination.

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

____________________________

MALAMA SOLOMON, Chair