Gov. David Ige began the new year setting off an environmental firestorm of protests when he picked Carleton Ching to head the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. Opposition would force Ige to pull the longtime lobbyist for developer Castle & Cooke from contention — and instead nominate Suzanne Case, who was heading The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii.
Case’s preservation credentials won her the job in April — but raised the puzzling question: What is the new governor’s position on managing Hawaii’s environment, and which way will his policy directives lean?
Now months later, Ige is getting a lay of the land, so to speak. In a recent interview with the Star-Advertiser, he said he believes a healthy environment and responsible economic growth can coexist in Hawaii. And his administration says the voice of stakeholders in decision-making will be key as the state addresses issues from watershed protection to global climate change, from endangered species to clean energy.
"I do think it’s about finding balance," Ige said, balancing growth and conservation as well as balancing the needs with available resources.
Environmentalists did not believe that balance would have been achieved with Ige’s first pick, Ching, who lobbied for one of the state’s largest developers. While some 20 environmentalist groups opposed that nomination, Case, whose background is in forest and marine conservation, was speedily confirmed as DLNR director.
Yet Ige said his nominations did not reflect a pro-development or pro-conservation stance. He was looking for someone who would push his own environmental agenda. With Case now comfortable in her new role, Ige said, "she’s not asked that I change my position" on any issue.
"My overall focus is consistent with the administration’s focus," Case said, noting the priority is to do the core work that the agency and government requires, which includes finding efficiencies, and carrying out the public trust — to be fair, responsive and good listeners.
Case realizes the breadth of her responsibilities and tries to tackle issues head on. On a recent afternoon, standing before a whiteboard with her "to do" list, she grabbed an eraser when she realized she could wipe an item off the list — water deputy. The Hawaii Commission on Water Resource Management recently confirmed the appointment of Jeffrey Pearson as Case’s deputy director of water resource management.
Case, 59, appeared pleased to be able to knock off tasks from her lists. But with 900 employees and a $144 million budget, there will surely be more to add.
Among her short- to medium-range projects: move forward on the Turtle Bay preservation deal, which scaled back development of homes, and address the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration proposal to expand the humpback whale sanctuary to include Maunalua Bay.
Under the Turtle Bay deal announced in May, the state agreed to pay $35 million of $45 million needed to preserve 665 acres at Turtle Bay Resort, halting the development of 650 homes but allowing two new hotels to be built by the resort. As a state senator, Ige was instrumental in that deal, a push to balance growth and natural environment.
But at the summit of Mauna Kea, where the development of the Thirty Meter Telescope has come under fire, a different scenario has played out.
The issue has given Case a crash course in crisis management. Last month, DLNR enforcement officers arrested more than two dozen "protectors" at Mauna Kea who had been protesting the TMT. DLNR enforced emergency rules restricting overnight access to Mauna Kea for 120 days.
While the TMT issue ultimately will be decided in court, Case said DLNR is working with the University of Hawaii to transfer back to the department the upper 10,000 acres of Mauna Kea except for the core, 500-acre astronomy footprint.
In late May, Ige announced the intent to return all lands not specifically needed for astronomy to full DLNR jurisdiction — and Case, who has a background in real estate law, is moving the process along. DLNR is hoping to get the pieces of the transfer in place by the fall, she said.
Ige said Mauna Kea did not start out as a priority for DLNR, but his administration quickly recognized the need for "better balance of technology and culture."
The transfer of summit lands will bring about "a new level of natural and cultural stewardship in a more inclusive way," according to Case.
"The thought now is they (UH administrators) don’t need to have all that land," she said. "DLNR would take back stewardship of that and start a cultural council that will help advise us on what is the best stewardship and bring a different dialogue."
Inclusiveness and dialogue are prevalent themes as Case and Ige discuss DLNR’s vision. With 11 divisions, that requires a lot of talking.
Even some of DLNR’s harshest critics have seen a new level of responsiveness. Tom Lodge, head of the Hawaii County Game Management Advisory Commission, disagrees with DLNR’s watershed policies and the eradication of game on Mauna Kea, but said that Case has already met with the commission and has agreed to answer some of its questions.
"There are huge issues and DLNR funnels millions of taxpayer dollars into watershed programs without consideration of the public," Lodge said, noting he is hopeful Case will engage in healthy dialogue with hunters. "They are responding (to inquiries) and they have never done that before."
Ige said he had previously heard complaints about DLNR not involving stakeholders or facility users in the department’s decision-making process. Community engagement is key, he said, as is accessibility.
"DLNR really touches people’s lives everyday. Our responsibility is to care for our public-trust resources," Case said before ticking off a slew of departmental functions that include overseeing forests, state parks, reef areas, historic preservation, coastal lands, freshwater, water allocation, boating, ocean recreation.
Part of her job will be to establish a more customer-friendly DLNR. The department offers many online services such as camping reservations, but is looking for more opportunities to do online management of assets, Case said. The department also is looking for the best ways to get notices out for dangerous conditions in public places, she said.
Another high priority is completing the digitization of the department’s Historic Preservation and Bureau of Conveyance records so they are preserved electronically and can be available for search online with images available for purchase.
Case’s background is in forest and marine conservation and she noted much work ahead in these areas. The native forests are intricate and complex with no defenses against invasive animals and plants, so require protection, said Case; still, she acknowledged there is a lot of land important to hunters. Her goal is to improve access and improve management in the right places for game hunting.
Similarly, Hawaii’s marine resources need attention. The fish population has seen a 75 percent decline in the last 100 years, Case said. The department has been doing outreach with fishers and other stakeholders to come up with workable management of marine resources.
In mid-August, new DLNR rules were implemented for the first-ever Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area in Ha’ena on Kauai. The rules allow for traditional fishing practices, but prohibit commercial take or sale of marine resources from within boundaries of the subsistence fishing area.
Marjorie Ziegler, executive director of the Conservation Council of Hawaii, said not all fishers like the idea of having "no-take" areas, but "fishing isn’t a right, it’s a responsibility."
While commending such conservation efforts, Ziegler said the bigger challenge is to manage a large, multi-faceted department with a relatively minuscule budget. DLNR gets about 1 percent of the state budget, Ziegler said, "not enough" for a stewardship department.
Managing 1.3 million acres of land and coastal areas three miles out from the shoreline on $144 million is a "huge, huge task," Case said. In contrast, Case worked with a staff of about 80 and an $11 million budget at The Nature Conservancy.
Part of the work in the land division involves stewardship of commercial land. "There are some areas ripe for redevelopment," Case said, which includes Banyan Drive in Hilo.
There are also opportunities for increased commercial uses in some of the boat harbors that will help fund improvements and maintenance of those harbors, she said.
The state’s ability to shepherd responsible growth while maintaining a healthy environment will be on full display a year from now when conservationists from across the globe gather in Hawaii. The World Conservation Conference, which Case describes as the Olympics for conservation work, will host 10,000 people and is being held in the United States for the first time.
It will be a chance to showcase Hawaii’s unique natural and cultural resources, Case said, and "the interconnectedness between mauka and makai, between humans and nature, between culture and environment and how we work together and the challenges of doing all that work."
