Ka‘ū News Briefs, Monday, February 10, 2020

A bill to ensure that milk products are labeled to prevent sellers from indicating they are produced in Hawaiʻi instead ofthe mainland go to public hearing tomorrow. Above is a photo of Lani Moo, the character who represented the dairies that Meadow Golf formerly operated in Hawaiʻi. See more below. Photo by Peter Young

ADDING BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND URGENT CARE AT KAʻŪ HOSPITAL's Rural Health Clinic is the aim of  a bill coming up for hearing in the state Senate this Wednesday, Feb. 12. The medical facility is asking for help with testimony from the public. Senate Bill 2617 asks for up to $700,000 for fiscal year 2020-2021 "to provide support for the expansion of the Kaʻū Rural Health Clinic to improve access to urgent care and outpatient behavior health services, thereby reducing the
need for emergency services." Use of the funds would be overseen by the non-profit group that oversees both Hilo and Kaʻū Hosptials, Hawaiʻi Health Systems Corp.

Kaʻū Hospital could be open for urgent care and offer behavioral health services if proposed funding wins approval. Photo from Kaʻū Hospital Foundation

     Both Senators Dru Kanuha, who represents West Kaʻū, and Kai Kahele, who is a candidate for the congressional seat to represent Kaʻū were among the introducers of the bill in the legislature.
     To read the bill and submit testimony, go to SB2617 on the Hawaiʻi State Legislature website.
     The Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection will also hear testimony on expanding cardiology services at Kaʻū's sister facility Hilo Medical Center, with a second cardiac catheter lab, and to help with loan repayment for healthcare professionals.
See sample testimony supporting SB 2814 to fund the second cardiac cath lab bill. See a YouTube video making the case of the second cath lab.

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A TRUTH IN LABELING BILL CONCERNING MILK will go to hearing tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb. 11 in the state House of Representatives. Introduced by Chair of the Health Committee John Mizuno, House Bill 1663 would require any processed milk or milk product to be entirely produced in Hawaiʻi in order to label it "with any item or slogan that might imply that the milk or milk products are produced locally."
     The bill follows the state Health Department, in 2017, temporarily ordering Meadow Gold to cease sales of its two percent reduced fat milk shipped from the mainland after recording coliform levels nearing 15 times the allowed maximum. According to Meadow Gold, the milk was safe to drink but could have spoiled faster with the higher coliform count.
     The measure would also require "all United States mainland milk shipped to and sold in Hawaiʻi to be single pasteurized only and comply with all handling, transportation, and distribution requirements of the federal Food Safety Modernization Act, including handling procedures, temperature verifications, and proper refrigerated transportation of all perishable foods." Read more and testify online.

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Land in yellow would be transferred to the Department of Agriculture, a measure opposed by the Department of Land & Natural Resources, which now manages the leases to Kaʻū ranchers. Map from DLNR

KEEPING PASTURE LANDS OWNED BY THE STATE under management of the state Department of Land & Natural Resources is the aim of testimony from the DLNR chief. Suzanne Case, who chairs the Board of Land & Natural Resources and heads up DLNR, gave testimony to the state Senate last week regarding Senate Bill 2812, which would transfer management of 93,000 acres
of state owned lands leased for pasture to the state Department of Agriculture. More than a third of that land is in Kaʻū. Deadline for DLNR to transfer the lands to Department of Agriculture would be June 30, 2021.
     The bill would also add the "care and production of pasture lands" to the state law's definition of agricultural activities. Agriculture would be defined as "care and production of livestock,  pasture lands, livestock products, poultry, or poultry products, or apiary, horticultural, or floricultural products, or the planting, cultivating, and harvesting of crops or trees, including tree farms." 
     Case writes that DLNR desires to keep the leases "because of the high natural resource value of certain pasture lands. Some pasture lands are remnant native forests that have never been plowed and contain native and endangered plants and wildlife. They adjoin or are near forest reserves and, as a result, have great potential for reforestation, and/or are important in providing access to other public lands for management, traditional gathering, and public recreation including hunting and trails."
     She includes a flyer entitled Importance of Pasture Lands to DLNR’s Mission and says that a separate piece of legislation, Senate Bill 2914, could relieve concerns of local ranchers who assess that they could better negotiate their leases with the Department of Agriculture. The legislation would give the DLNR more latitude in negotiating new leases with existing ranchers.
     In her quest to keep the leases with DLNR, Case writes, "Positive advancement in carbon sequestration challenges, wildlife management, wildfire protection and forest health concerns can be best managed by the Department  (DLNR) through mutually beneficial practices with ranching, wildlife protection, and native forest restoration. Mandating the transfer of these lands to DOA for pasture purposes will severely undermine the potential for reforestation and other natural resource protection uses of the land. For these reasons, the Department respectfully urges the Legislature not to pass this bill, and instead support Senate Bill 2914 and House Bill 2358 and allow the select pasture leases to remain under the Department’s management."
     The Chair of the Board of Agriculture, Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser, testified that she supports the bill to transfer pasture lands to the Department of Agriculture.
     SB 2812 passed two Senate Committees last Friday and a companion bill is not yet scheduled for a hearing in the House. However, the Senate bill is expected to pass over and to be considered. See the SB 2812. See its companion, House Bill 2577.
     See more in upcoming Kaʻū News Briefs and in the Feb. 9 Kaʻū News Briefs.

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To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. See our online calendars and our latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.
CONSERVATION COUNCIL FOR HAWAIʻI has welcomed Moana Bjur as its new Executive Director. She took the helm of Hawaiʻi's oldest wildlife conservation organization in early February and will lead the organization "as it confronts the many challenges facing Hawaʻi's native wildlife and the ecosystems they depend upon," says the announcement.

Jonee Peters, Operations and Events Director; Les Welsh,  National Wildlife Federation Associate Director for  the Pacific and Director of Conservation Partnerships;  and Moana Bjur, Executive Director.

     A Native Hawaiian descendant of Kawaihapai on the North Shore of Oʻahu, Bjur has more than 20 years of experience working across public, private and non-profit organizations developing and implementing conservation, environmental, education and community engagement programs for participants in school, camp, conference and professional settings in Hawaiʻi. Before joining CCH, she served as the Assistant Executive Director at Waimea Valley, an educational non-profit with a mission to preserve and perpetuate human, cultural and natural resources of Waimea Valley on Oʻahu.
     Dr. Rachel Sprague, Conservation Council's Board President, said, "CCH has a long-standing history as a voice for our imperiled native species, and we look forward to Moana leading our important work ahead in protecting and restoring Hawaiʻi's native wildlife and wild places for future generations."
     Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 1950 is dedicated to protecting native Hawaiian plants, animals, and ecosystems for future generations. See  conservehi.org.