STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1674

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    GOV. MSG. NO. 750

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred Governor's Message No. 750, submitting for study and consideration the nomination of: 

 

Chairperson of the Department of Land and Natural Resources

 

G.M. No. 750

SUZANNE CASE,

for a term to expire 12-31-2018,

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     Your Committee has reviewed the personal history, resume, and statement submitted by the nominee and finds Suzanne Case to possess the requisite qualifications to be nominated to the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of Suzanne Case from the Office of the Governor; Department of Land and Natural Resources; Department of Transportation; Department of Human Services; Department of Accounting and General Services; Department of Budget and Finance; Department of Agriculture; Office of Hawaiian Affairs; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries; Aha Moku Advisory Committee; Ulupono Initiative; National Tropical Botanical Garden; Hawaii Cattlemens Council; Hoomana Pono LLC; Malama Pupukea Waimea; Hawaiian Islands Land Trust; Malama Maunalua; Building Industry Association of Hawaii; Hawaii Agricultural Partnerships; Hawaii Thousand Friends; University of Hawaii Biology Alumni Association; Hawaii Community Foundation; West Maui Preservation Association; The Trust for Public Land; Ko‘olaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club; Ko‘olau Foundation; Hanalei Watershed Hui; Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary; Conservation Council for Hawaii; The Nature Conservancy; The Outdoor Circle; South Kohala Reef Alliance; Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii; Ohulehule Forest Conservancy LLC; Malama O Puna; Hawaii Fishing & Boating Association; Hawaii Fish Company; Chamber of Commerce Hawaii; Hawaii Forest Industry Association; Surfrider Foundation; Friends of Pebble Beach; Hawaii Pork Industry Association; Sierra Club; American Bird Conservancy; Bays Lung Rose Holma Attorneys at Law; Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii; and numerous individuals.

 

            Your Committee received testimony in opposition to Suzanne Case from Animal Rights Hawai‘i; Puna Commissioner-GMAC; Hawaii Fishermen's Alliance For Conservation and Tradition, Inc.; Fishing Tales with Mike Sakamoto; Hawaii Hunting Association; National Wild Turkey Federation; and forty-one individuals.

 

     Suzanne Case is the Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii.  She was born in Hilo and grew up in Honolulu.  She attended Williams College and graduated from Stanford University with honors with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.  She received a law degree from Hastings College of the Law, at the University of California, San Francisco.  Ms. Case practiced law in Honolulu from 1983 to 1987, specializing in real estate transactions.

 

     Suzanne Case is a twenty-eight year veteran of The Nature Conservancy where she has served as Executive Director since 2001.  She oversees a staff of seventy-six people and sixteen nature preserves totaling 53,000 acres.  Her experience involves work in native forests and in coastal and marine conservation, directly and through partnerships on six main Hawaiian Islands.  Ms. Case also oversees the Palmyra Atoll Nature Preserve and Research Station in the Pacific, a globally acclaimed conservation and research collaboration of The Nature Conservancy, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Palmyra Atoll Research Consortium.

 

     During her years at The Nature Conservancy, the nominee served as Legal Counsel for The Nature Conservancy Program, the Western United States, and internationally in the Asia and Pacific region.  Ms. Case also oversaw the acquisition of the 116,000 acre Kahuku Ranch addition to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, eight Hawaii Nature Conservancy preserves, Palmyra Atoll, the new National Wildlife Refuge at Hakalau on the slopes of Mauna Kea and at Oahu Forest, as well as the creation of watershed partnerships for forested management throughout Hawaii, the growth of networks of local communities working to restore their near-shore marine resources, and the implementation of large-scale projects to remove invasive algae from reefs and coastal areas.

 

     Ms. Case co-created "Ke Ho‘olono Nei", a Hawaiian song about loss and stewardship of native Hawaiian forest birds, and "Maoli No" a free educational digital video disc of Hawaiian songs, chants, and stories developed by The Nature Conservancy in 2003 for the Year of the Hawaiian Forest on the one hundredth anniversary of the creation of the Hawaii Forest Reserve System.

 

     The nominee has been a member of numerous private community groups that are involved in conservation and natural resource preservation.  The Nature Conservancy works with over a dozen local communities and other partners to protect the reefs and near-shore waters of the main Hawaiian Islands.  Ms. Case has received multiple honors for her contributions to forest and marine conservation throughout Hawai‘i, including The Garden Club of Honolulu Hui Māla Award, Young Women's Christian Association Leader Honoree, and Ho‘okele Award for Non-Profit Leadership from the Hawai‘i Community Foundation and the W.A. Gerbode Foundation.

 

     Suzanne Case believes in wise stewardship of Hawaii's public and conservation lands and waters, excellence in government, making the most of limited resources, and collaboration and inclusion.

 

     Ms. Case's experience at The Nature Conservancy augurs well for the work of the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.  Her written responses to the questionnaire indicated that The Nature Conservancy regularly works with communities and resource users with a stake in management and use of Hawaii's forests, oceans, and other natural resources.  Their principal approach is based on the principles that most viewpoints and goals are legitimate and that most times a solution can be found that accommodates most viewpoints.  The Nature Conservancy forged a number of conservation agreements in which landowners, government, businesses, and diverse community groups became interested stakeholders and full participants, including subjects covering near-shore fisheries, community-based marine management much like the konohiki system, traditional and customary gathering rights, protection of native forests, accessible hunting, and recreational uses of land and water.

 

     Ms. Case believes that preservation does not mean cutting off, such as by fencing, access to public land if that access is compatible with human uses such as hunting and gathering rights.  She is anxious to accelerate and improve access to areas of hunting and gathering rights.

 

     Ms. Case's wide range of experience at The Nature Conservancy, which ranges from land acquisition, to watershed management, to the restoration of near-shore marine resources, makes her well suited for the position of Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.  Her ability to create partnerships in order to accomplish her agency's mission will also serve the Department well.

 

     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,

 

 

 

____________________________

LAURA H. THIELEN, Chair