LIHU‘E — Night and illegal hunting on state lands, theft of koa wood mainly from Koke‘e State Park, and illegal fishing top the list of enforcement issues facing state Department of Land and Natural Resources enforcement agents, they said. “It’s
LIHU‘E — Night and illegal hunting on state lands, theft of koa wood mainly from Koke‘e State Park, and illegal fishing top the list of enforcement issues facing state Department of Land and Natural Resources enforcement agents, they said.
“It’s a major problem,” theft of koa, said Francis “Bully” Mission, head of DLNR’s Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement on Kaua‘i.
Night and illegal hunting on state lands is another challenge, as well as illegal fishing, said Mission and Mark S. Young, new statewide DOCARE chief of enforcement.
The 14 Kaua‘i DOCARE agents have a much-larger jurisdiction — from the center of the island to areas three miles offshore of both Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau — than Kaua‘i Police Department officers, so out of necessity depend on voluntary compliance of state laws and citizens being eyes and ears when DOCARE officers aren’t around, said Mission and Young in an exclusive interview at The Garden Island office Tuesday.
Former DLNR boss Peter Young instituted mauka (mountains) and makai (ocean) watches, where citizens agreed to watch for violations of state law and state administrative rules for protection of land, rivers and streams, ocean and critters, and Mission said he was pleasantly surprised to learn that Hanalei still has an active makai watch program.
Young had been in the U.S. Coast Guard for 23 years before joining the state, and Mission took over as Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau DOCARE supervisor in January of this year.
Like many other DOCARE agents on Kaua‘i and across the state, Mission is a former police officer.
Young has been to Kaua‘i and the Big Island on a statewide tour, getting acquainted with the 110 enforcement officers statewide and issues common and specific to each island, and while on Kaua‘i for several days this week toured Koke‘e State Park, Polihale State Park, Na Pali Coast, and other areas.
Resource enforcement and policy development are among his priorities, and he has definite ideas for “leading DOCARE down a certain path,” in coordination with Laura Thielen, chair of the Board of Land and Natural Resources and as such DLNR administrator, Young said.
A DOCARE five-year strategic plan was completed two years ago. See hawaii.gov/dlnr/reports/DOCARE-Strategic-Plan-2009-2014.pdf for that plan.
It defines “what’s strategically important,” said Young.
Another item of importance is national accreditation for DOCARE, through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, said Young.
It will not only afford the agency accountability, it will also make it more effective and efficient, he said. The Kaua‘i Police Department is seeking CALEA accreditation as well.
Accreditation for DOCARE “cements the box for how they (officers) operate,” based on “sets of international standards. I think it will really make us a more effective and efficient agency,” said Young.
The DOCARE mission statement is to protect natural, cultural and historic resources. “We have full police powers. We’re the enforcement organization” for aquatics, land management, boating, historic preservation, and ocean and coastal lands.
Young and Mission said vehicles driving on beaches is something on their radar, though specific rules that prohibit operating motor vehicles in state parks on anything other than a roadway remain in conflict with generations of beach-goers driving trucks onto Polihale State Park’s beach in order to load and unload fishing and camping equipment.
“If it’s not a roadway it’s illegal. But it’s a tradition,” and Polihale with its wide beach is very different from most state-park beaches, they said.
Still, Mission said he issued 33 citations, 32 to operators of all-terrain vehicles and one to the operator of a truck, recently, for operating those vehicles on the beach at Polihale State Park.
Back to voluntary compliance of state laws (Hawai‘i Revised Statutes) and Hawai‘i Administrative Rules, Mission said the erecting of entry gates at Koke‘e State Park and Ha‘ena State Park, manned by private security guards, will help deter crime in those parks and be an opportunity to provide education and outreach information to park users.
Regarding DOCARE officers’ presence at beaches where the endangered Hawaiian monk seals have hauled out mainly to rest, Young said DOCARE recently entered into a joint-enforcement agreement with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries officials to help protect that species and enforce various fishing rules and regulations.
That provides an important source of federal funds as well, said Young.
Anyone can call the statewide DLNR hotline, 643-3567 (643-DLNR), to report suspected violations of HRS and HAR, and can remain anonymous. Agents aren’t able to cite violators unless they witness violations, so citizens who report violations who are willing to provide statements and serve as witnesses are oftentimes needed in order to make an accusation stick, said Young.
“People can remain anonymous if they want, and if that’s as far as they want to take it, fine, but we may need more,” said Young.
“It’s important if they want to provide a statement, evidence to help a case, then do it.” Know that DOCARE response to any complaint might not be instantaneous, said Young. “There’s a lot on our plate.”
• Paul C. Curtis, assistant editor and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com.
