HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.C.R. NO. 40 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025 STATE OF HAWAII HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION urging the Department of Land and Natural Resources and other state agencies to work with committed community groups to co-steward community forests located on public lands for the betterment of the state's forests and communities.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.C.R. NO. 40
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.C.R. NO.
40
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII
HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
urging the Department of Land and Natural Resources and other state agencies to work with committed community groups to co-steward community forests located on public lands for the betterment of the state's forests and communities.
WHEREAS, Governor Josh Green, M.D., has proclaimed 2025 the Year of Our Community Forests; and WHEREAS, the mission of the Department of Land and Natural Resources is to enhance, protect, conserve, and manage the State's unique and limited natural, cultural, and historic resources that are held in public trust for current and future generations of the people of Hawaii and its visitors, in partnership with others from the public and private sectors; and WHEREAS, community forests are forests where the people of Hawaii live, learn, work, and play; and WHEREAS, trees and community forests provide significant health benefits, including access to food and medicinal plants, stress reduction, and reduced incidences of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases; and WHEREAS, trees and community forests provide extensive environmental benefits, including clean air and water, reduced noise and air pollution, native species habitats, carbon storage, and reduced erosion; and WHEREAS, trees and community forests provide important economic benefits, including increased property values; cooling for cities and neighborhoods, with less need for air conditioning; increased spending at businesses near trees; support for arboriculture and forestry jobs and ecotourism and outdoor recreation businesses; and the sale of forest products such as food, fiber, timber, medicines, and textiles; and WHEREAS, traditional and customary Native Hawaiian practices are supported through forestry stewardship and aloha āina; therefore, it is critical for the State to build and maintain sustainable, healthy forests; and WHEREAS, the State manages over seven hundred thousand acres of public forest reserve lands, in addition to other public lands with trees and community forests such as state parks, school campuses, and transit corridors; and WHEREAS, investing in forest stewardship requires considerable dedication, effort, expertise, tools, human resources, and time and is often associated with community members' love of the land; and WHEREAS, there exists a need for sustained, collaborative relationships among communities and agencies that recognize and honor community investment; and WHEREAS, active co-stewardship of community forests between the State and the people of Hawaii will improve the State's communities and community forests; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Land and Natural Resources and other state agencies are urged to work with committed community groups to co-steward community forests located on public lands for the betterment of the State's forests and communities; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson and each member of the Board of Land and Natural Resources. OFFERED BY: _____________________________
WHEREAS, Governor Josh Green, M.D., has proclaimed 2025 the Year of Our Community Forests; and
WHEREAS, the mission of the Department of Land and Natural Resources is to enhance, protect, conserve, and manage the State's unique and limited natural, cultural, and historic resources that are held in public trust for current and future generations of the people of Hawaii and its visitors, in partnership with others from the public and private sectors; and
WHEREAS, community forests are forests where the people of Hawaii live, learn, work, and play; and
WHEREAS, trees and community forests provide significant health benefits, including access to food and medicinal plants, stress reduction, and reduced incidences of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases; and
WHEREAS, trees and community forests provide extensive environmental benefits, including clean air and water, reduced noise and air pollution, native species habitats, carbon storage, and reduced erosion; and
WHEREAS, trees and community forests provide important economic benefits, including increased property values; cooling for cities and neighborhoods, with less need for air conditioning; increased spending at businesses near trees; support for arboriculture and forestry jobs and ecotourism and outdoor recreation businesses; and the sale of forest products such as food, fiber, timber, medicines, and textiles; and
WHEREAS, traditional and customary Native Hawaiian practices are supported through forestry stewardship and aloha āina; therefore, it is critical for the State to build and maintain sustainable, healthy forests; and
WHEREAS, the State manages over seven hundred thousand acres of public forest reserve lands, in addition to other public lands with trees and community forests such as state parks, school campuses, and transit corridors; and
WHEREAS, investing in forest stewardship requires considerable dedication, effort, expertise, tools, human resources, and time and is often associated with community members' love of the land; and
WHEREAS, there exists a need for sustained, collaborative relationships among communities and agencies that recognize and honor community investment; and
WHEREAS, active co-stewardship of community forests between the State and the people of Hawaii will improve the State's communities and community forests; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Land and Natural Resources and other state agencies are urged to work with committed community groups to co-steward community forests located on public lands for the betterment of the State's forests and communities; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson and each member of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.
OFFERED BY: _____________________________
OFFERED BY:
_____________________________
Report Title: Community Forests; DLNR; State Agencies
Report Title:
Community Forests; DLNR; State Agencies