Kelly Greenwell was in high dudgeon. Addressing fellow members of the Hawai`i County on the subject of a resolution he had introduced to protest an aerial hunt to eradicate wild cattle in a state forest reserve, Greenwell fulminated, “This was a thinly disguised African elephant hunt, done for the fun of going up in a helicopter and shooting things.”
“Roger, all I can say is your operators have been running wild for a long time. They sneak in… It’s plain inexcusable, and an arrogant display of disrespect.”
The words were directed at Roger Imoto, head of the Big Island office of the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry and Wildlife. Imoto is charged with managing state forest reserve lands, including a relatively recent addition to the Honuaula Forest Reserve, on the slopes of Hualalai above Kailua-Kona.
For years, the area below the original reserve, set aside more than a century ago, had been grazed by cattle belonging to Palani Ranch, owned by the Greenwell family (and now run by Jimmy Greenwell, a cousin to the councilmember). In the early 1990s, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources approved adding Honuaula Tract II to the state forest reserve system, and in 1991, the state ordered Palani Ranch to remove all cattle from the tract.
By 1994, though, cattle were still in Tract II, and the state agreed to let Palani Ranch go on using the area until the state had resources to manage the area. Three years later, the Land Board approved adding the Kealakehe Mauka Tract to the Honuaula reserve.
Not until 2006 was paperwork completed that allowed the formal addition of the lands to the Honuaula Forest Reserve. Still, Palani Ranch was allowed to continue grazing livestock in most of the reserve. It was told, however, to start removing its livestock so the state could begin to reforest the area, using a grant from the U.S. Forest Service.
In 2006 and 2007, Palani Ranch was given permission to trap cattle in the forest reserve in advance of the removal of remaining cattle by DOFAW staff through on-the-ground and aerial hunts. Under terms of an agreement with Palani Ranch, Imoto said, public hunting of cattle, as well as salvage of meat, would not be allowed. The ranch refused to allow public hunters access to the reserve, citing concerns over the safety of its workers and livestock.
In March 2007, Palani Ranch was given a deadline of January 2008 to remove all its cattle out of the reserve. When it was apparent that the deadline would be missed, DOFAW again extended the deadline. “Trapping permits were extended because we wanted to work with the ranch as much as possible to remove the cattle, and because we were able to extend our federal reforestation grant,” Imoto wrote.
Finally, early this year, Laura Thielen, administrator of the DLNR, approved plans to remove cattle from the reserve by means that included aerial hunts. Even so, in February, Imoto’s chronology states, “DOFAW offered to cancel March aerial shoots if Palani Ranch felt it could use the extra month to trap cattle… Palani Ranch wanted the extra time. DOFAW cancelled” the four aerial shoots scheduled for March.
On February 23, Greenwell introduced his resolution, “requesting that the state … abandon any effort and/or plan to eradicate feral cattle within the Honuaula Forest Reserve.”
In the several “whereas” clauses, the resolution stated that the “cattle industry … is economically threatened” and “portrayal of the cattle industry as damaging to our ecosystem” further diminishes its chance for survival. Also, according to the resolution, “the proposed shooting of cattle in recovered pasture land is unacceptably dangerous to hikers and adjoining property owners.”
The resolution asked that the state “abandon any effort and/or plan to shoot feral cattle within the Honuaula Forest Reserve” and called for the state to “work with the Cattlemen’s Association and various conservation groups to establish a safer, humane, and effective process for achieving success in their mission.”
A Matter of Timing
On April 7, the County Council’s Committee on Public Safety and Parks and Recreation discussed the resolution. Imoto testified at the time that since 2004, some 381 head of cattle had been removed by ranchers from the nearly 3,000-acre forest reserve. Between 60 and 100 head of cattle remained in the area, according to Imoto’s best guess – most of them bulls that were difficult to trap. On a vote of eight to one, with Councilmember Brenda Ford the only “nay,” the committee recommended adoption by the council.
A week later, DOFAW began a two-day aerial hunt. According to Imoto, 158 animals were shot from the helicopter, six were shot on the ground, and 23 were driven by helicopter into a pen, where the ranch was able to retrieve the cattle. Altogether, 181 animals were removed from the reserve.
When the County Council met on April 22, on the agenda was Greenwell’s resolution. Dozens of ranchers had by then heard of the cattle shoot and provided testimony supporting the measure. Weighing in as well was the Hawai`i Island Humane Society, which had obtained photos taken by Palani Ranch of cattle carcasses left on the ground after the helicopter shoot.
Councilmember Ford noted that one animal was shown with its tongue hanging out, which she said was “prima facie evidence of walking wounded” – of an animal that was not instantly killed but suffered.
Councilmember Guy Enriques, chairman of the Public Safety and Parks and Recreation Committee, tried to temper the discussion. He said he had been flown by DOFAW to the area of the shoot ahead of time. “I think they took every measure they could to avoid this result,” he said, referring to Ford’s accusation of suffering animals. He noted that the Department of Land and Natural Resources had given the ranchers repeated time extensions to get the cattle out, but were coming up against a deadline for the Forest Service grant.
When he saw the forest reserve lands, he said, his first thought was, “Whoa, there’s a lot of cattle here.”
“I want to support Mr. Imoto. They didn’t go up just because they wanted to have fun. I want to let my colleagues know they did what they could,” he said. According to Imoto, it is far more humane to shoot animals from helicopters than it is from the ground. If a shot misses, it’s possible to follow the animal and quickly deliver a killing shot, whereas if a badly wounded animal runs away from a hunter on the ground, it is far more likely the animal will suffer a lingering death.
New Agreement
The resolution was adopted by a unanimous vote. Since then, Imoto told Environment Hawai`i, DOFAW has been in discussions with the ranch, which has now agreed to let the state drive remaining cattle into adjoining pastures using the helicopter. The state had offered since 2004 to drive the cattle in the reserve with the helicopter, Imoto said, but the ranch had refused. “They thought it might destroy fences,” he said, “but now with the public pressure on, they’re easing up and say they will let us use that technique.”
As far as giving hunters access to the reserve, though, Imoto said, “the ranch is adamant about not allowing public hunting.”
— Patricia Tummons
Volume 19, Number 12, June 2009
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