Officers with the state Division of Conservation Resources and Enforcement spend about as much time performing non-resource related activities, such as providing security for cruise ships, as they do protecting the state\u2019s natural environment, according to University of Hawai`i affiliate faculty member Bill Walsh.<\/p>\n
\tWalsh\u2019s assessment, which he presented at last July\u2019s conservation conference, echoes the conclusions made by legislative auditor Marion Higa in her a highly critical audit of DOCARE released in late 2005. Higa found that DOCARE officers spent almost 19 work-years of effort on activities that, although necessary, detracted from the division\u2019s true mission. Those activities included drug stakeouts, marijuana eradication, and park and harbor patrols to curb teenage drinking and drug use, among other things.<\/p>\n
\u201cHistorically, this has been a concern of the resource community and the public in general,\u201d Walsh says. Even before the audit was released, Walsh, assisted by Hawai`i Audubon Society contractor Ellyn Tong, had begun digging deep into the agency\u2019s past \u2013 reading old annual reports published by the Board of Agriculture and the Delpartment of Land and Natural Resources, among other things \u2013 to find out how DOCARE appears to have become so distracted. They found that much of the blame lies with the state Legislature.<\/p>\n
From the late 1920s to 1978, natural resource enforcement was carried out by officers assigned directly to the Division of Fish and Game and during that time, 100 percent of the citations issued were for violations of rules intended to protect Hawai`i\u2019s natural resources, Walsh said. In 1978, DOCARE was established as a separate division within the DLNR by legislative Act 171.<\/p>\n
In 1928, seven Fish and Game wardens issued more than 200 citations for natural resource violations. Over the years, the number of citations fluctuated, dipping in the 1940s as a result of World War II and then again in the 1960s, Walsh said. From 1969 on, there was a general increase in the number of natural resource citations, due, Walsh said, to a substantial increase in the number of enforcement officers and the passage of Act 265 in 1967, which allowed officers to issue summons and citations in the field. Before that, officers had to arrest and take violators to the police station for formal booking. The most recent data available indicate that 102 DOCARE officers issued 442 citations for natural resource violations in 2002.<\/p>\n
\tThe most significant change in resource enforcement in Hawai`i occurred in 1981, when the Legislature passed Act 226, which greatly expanded DOCARE\u2019s duties to include enforcement of all state laws and county ordinances on all state lands, beaches, shore waters, and county parks. Although Walsh said the purpose of Act 226 was to let DOCARE enforce state Department of Transportation rules, he argued that it has caused the division to spend increasing amounts of time on activities only loosely related to natural and cultural resource protection.<\/p>\n
Following the release of the audit, the Legislature required DOCARE to submit monthly reports of its activities or else face penalties of $10,000 a day. Rather than prepare summaries of its activities, DOCARE has chosen to scan and post on its website every time sheet from every officer, some of which are handwritten and practically illegible.<\/p>\n
Because the DLNR hasn\u2019t produced any recent annual reports that describe DOCARE\u2019s activities with any specificity, Walsh used these time sheets to see how officers on the Big Island are spending their time now. Although he wasn\u2019t exactly sure how to categorize everything \u2013 since, even with the time sheets, it\u2019s difficult to tell exactly what the officers are doing \u2013 Walsh managed to piece together a breakdown of recent activities by the island\u2019s 25 officers using his own discretion of what is a \u201cresource\u201d activity and what is a \u201cnon-resource\u201d activity.<\/p>\n
He found that 36.1 percent of their time was spent doing administrative or support work, 30.1 percent was spent on what Walsh called \u201cnon-resource activities\u201d such as cruise ship security and marijuana eradication, 13.5 percent was spent on aquatic resources, 11.5 percent was spent on land resources, and 8.8 percent was spent on state parks and beaches.<\/p>\n
On its website, DOCARE explains why it considers marijuana eradication necessary to protecting Hawai`i\u2019s natural resources: \u201cCultivation has the potential of destroying native habitat due to the introduction of herbicides, clear cutting, fertilizers, pesticides, rodenticides, alien species, and trash. This in turn has a direct negative impact on our fragile natural resources and disrupts sensitive wildlife species.\u201d<\/p>\n
With regard to providing cruise ship security, DOCARE administrator Gary Moniz says, \u201cWe don\u2019t do that as a regular assignment. Officers do it on their days off so it doesn\u2019t affect their protection of natural resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walsh said that while the number of DOCARE officers has increased over the years, the number of natural resource citations per officer per year has declined since the 1920s from around 20 per officer to about 2 per officer today. That rate, Walsh said, is the lowest of all U.S. coastal states.<\/p>\n
This trend, coupled with \u201cwidely acknowledged\u201d inadequate staffing and the inability to inspect property of non-commercial fishers without probable cause, \u201cundermines the effectiveness of existing and future resource regulations and threatens the health and well being of Hawai`i\u2019s marine ecosystems and the sustainability of its fisheries,\u201d Walsh stated in his abstract.<\/p>\n
He noted that a 1987 survey of commercial fishermen found that they believed that enforcement was inadequate and that a 1998 survey found that 73 percent of recreational fishermen wanted more law enforcement.<\/p>\n
Walsh said that he doubts whether DOCARE\u2019s current practices are in line with what\u2019s required by state conservation laws. Legislation caused the problem, he said, but so far no solution has been provided. He recommends that the state reaffirm natural resources as a priority of DOCARE.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe deterrent effect of enforcement is key,\u201d Walsh said.<\/p>\n
In late 2005, the DLNR attempted to address concerns about DOCARE\u2019s activities by submitting a 2007 supplemental budget to the Legislature requesting $800,000 from special funds of the divisions of State Parks and Boating and Ocean Recreation. With those funds, the department planned to hire 22 uniformed security guards to curtail vandalism, break-ins, handle gates, and eliminate loitering and illegal activities at state parks and harbors \u2013 tasks currently handled by DOCARE.<\/p>\n
The proposal came on the heels of Higa\u2019s audit, which recommended that the department determine whether \u201cexpanded work loosely connected to its original conservation enforcement mission should be performed by the enforcement division or another state organization or a contractor.\u201d It also instructed DOCARE to \u201cexpand its policy manual to fully cover topics pertaining to the protection of natural and cultural resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis program will free up time for DOCARE enforcement officers, allowing them to focus on natural and cultural resource concerns,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the Legislature did not grant DLNR\u2019s request. However, the department has pursued a ranger program, funded in part by the Hawai`i Tourism Authority, for the `Ahihi-Kina`u Natural Area Reserve and two state parks.<\/p>\n
During the last legislative session, the DLNR reported that DOCARE officers were still devoting a significant amount of time to activities unrelated to natural resources, spending 40 percent of their time dealing with state parks (15 percent) and boating concerns (25 percent). In order to better handle its responsibilities, DOCARE requested 50 new positions, 19 of which were approved by the Legislature. Moniz says his division is in the process of filling those positions.<\/p>\n
While he agreed with Walsh that DOCARE\u2019s primary mission is and has always been to protect natural resources, Moniz seemed skeptical about what Walsh considered non-resource related activities and where he got his data. \u201cHe never talked to any of us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
— Teresa Dawson<\/p>\n
Volume 18, Number 4 October 2007<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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