Hawai`i Tropical Forest Recovery Act
Concepts, Recommendations and Action Items

GUIDING CONCEPT 6

RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION
Conduct research to improve understanding of the diverse environmental, cultural, and economic values of Hawaii's forests. To support research and technology; transfer, develop and operate a network of experimental and demonstration forests to develop and test methods for ensuring the recovery and environmental and economic sustainability of Hawaii's forests. Before cooperative agreements are developed to establish experimental forests, legal issues concerning administration of the experimental forests and local, state, federal, and native Hawaiian rights should be addressed.

RECOMMENDATION 16: Enhance, expand, and integrate capabilities of all research programs focused on conservation and resource management. More integrated, multi-disciplinary research programs must be implemented to be effective with the limited resources available.

SPECIFIC ACTION ITEMS:

Provide stable support to encourage partnerships among state, federal, and private organization to bring the best available expertise together to conduct long-term, integrated research on problems associated with forestry management and conservation biology.
Provide the necessary resources for the managers of the Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife, USDI National Park Service and USDI Fish and Wildlife Service to expand monitoring capabilities so their on-the-ground resource programs can complement and support the expanded research capabilities.
Support research on alien plants and animals that have been identified as top priority for addressing Hawaii's conservation problems, including the expansion of current research efforts to include priority insect and plant pathogens.
Support the establishment of a network of experimental forests, demonstration forests, and natural area reserves to ensure continuous and focused programs on research, application, teaching, and training.
Expand the mandate, membership, and support of the Secretariat for Conservation Biology to include priority natural resource, socioeconomic, and ethnographic issues and needs occurring outside of native ecosystems (such as agroforestry and production forestry). The mandate should also include other U.S. flag islands and newly independent island nations in the Pacific.
Provide the necessary resources to expand the university's current programs to include a Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Unit and a Sustainable Biosphere Program. Enhance hands-on research by students in an expanded graduate program in ecology, evolution, conservation biology, and resource management to provide a solid foundation for professional careers as managers, policymakers, or academicians in conservation programs.
Provide financial support for graduate assistantships and in-service training. Support coordination through the Secretariat for Conservation Biology to ensure collaboration among students, researchers, and resource managers.
Expand exchange programs among national and international institutions to complement Hawaii's strengths with expertise in areas that are either lacking or minimally addressed in Hawaii. For example conservation, forestry, and agroforestry could be greatly enhanced at the University of Hawaii through exchange programs involving other U.S. universities where there are complementary programs. Manager/research exchange programs with other nations such as with New Zealand, and the Center for International Forestry (CIFOR) in Bogar, Indonesia should also be encouraged where appropriate.

RECOMMENDATION 17: Create a network of experimental forests with associated facilities to meet scientific and management objectives to restore deficient or degraded forests.

SPECIFIC ACTION ITEMS:

Appoint a panel consisting of five or six people to include at least one scientist, a resource manager, an educator, and a community member to look into the establishment of the Hawaii Experimental Tropical Forest(s) and report on the results of their findings. This group's challenges should include the following:
1. Identify potential locations for experimental forest(s) plus associated facilities;
2. Decide on the scientific merits and problems associated with each alternative location;
3. Ensure that at least one alternative location includes degraded former forest land, including upland pasture land and lowland sugarcane land; and
4. Prepare a preferred priority list of alternative locations, including appropriate facilities.
The panel should prepare a report of findings and recommendations to be submitted to the Governor of Hawaii and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. The Governor and Secretary would receive the recommendations and authorize completion of selected actions related to the location and extent of the Hawaii experimental forest(s). This analysis would include at least the following:
1. Several alternative locations and sizes recommended by the panel in the first analysis;
2. An alternative to establish no experimental forests or facilities;
3. Estimated relative costs and benefits involved with each alternate location, including initial and subsequent operating costs; and
4. Evaluation of the access to the facilities and surrounding experimental units for the alternative locations.
Before final cooperative agreements are developed to establish experimental forest(s) in the state, legal issues concerning the administration of the experimental forest(s) and local, state, federal, and native Hawaiian rights must be addressed. It is important that the land owners and others who have interests in a proposed site are voluntary participants in establishing the experimental forest(s).
Provided the experimental forest(s) is established, a policy forum should be organized from the appropriate groups that have a stake in the experimental forest(s) to provide a continuing critique of the forest management. This forum should include the following people and be given the indicated charges:
1. Scientists, managers, citizens from the general population, and local community members;
2. The forum should review the policy of experimental the forest management and make appropriate suggestions. The experimental forest management should review the suggestions and justify action to accept or reject; and
3. It should be the policy of the forest management to allow public entry by approval for typical forest activities, such as gathering and hunting. Areas of the forest may be excluded when those activities would have a serious adverse effect on research in progress. Special sensitivity of treatments, equipment, or research objectives may justify reserving part of the forest from particular public activities. The policy forum would participate in making those decisions.
Establish a network of forest managers and researchers to advise and provide a sounding board for research proposals. The network would be a primary resource for establishing demonstration forests to meet site specific research needs. Specific forest reserve areas should become part of an expanded system of sites for comparison with experimental forest units that are subject to manipulation.

RECOMMENDATION 18: Create a network of demonstration forests on all islands with a diversity of willing landowners to provide an opportunity to use existing and new knowledge on the ground and assist private forest landowners with currently available technical knowledge and applied research.

SPECIFIC ACTION ITEMS:

Establish a network of willing landowners and managers, through incentive grants, who are interested in participating in or cooperating with, general or specific demonstration forest projects.
Establish a mechanism for maintaining communication between landowners, managers, and researchers that will provide information on current activities and potential useful applications ongoing within the demonstration forest network. This process could be supported by the local information office and by the Center for Tropical Forests (see recommendations 2 and 15).
Develop a database that describes existing and new demonstration forest(s) as they become part of the network. It should include forest types, soils, and climate, short- and long-term objectives of the landowner, and the type of research needed and considered appropriate for that specific demonstration forest.

Hawai`i Tropical Forest Recovery Act
Concepts, Recommendations and Action Items

GUIDING CONCEPT 6

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Hawai`i Tropical Forest Recovery Act Concepts, Recommendations and Action Items

GUIDING CONCEPT 6

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Hawai`i Tropical Forest Recovery Act
Concepts, Recommendations and Action Items