HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

111

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

STRONGLY URGING THE GOVERNOR TO RELEASE THE FUNDS APPROPRIATED FOR THE ACQUISITION OF PARADISE PARK IN MANOA.

 

WHEREAS, Act 177, Session Laws of Hawaii 2002, appropriated $5,500,000, for the acquisition of Paradise Park in Manoa on the island of Oahu; and

WHEREAS, the Paradise Park site located at the end of East Manoa Road adjacent to the University of Hawaii's Lyon Arboretum, is an ideal location for the establishment of a Pacific Center for Ecosystem Science, a facility that will help to sustain Hawaiian and other tropical ecosystems, attract significant external funding, and be the premier conservation biology research and training center in the Asia-Pacific region; and

WHEREAS, the Center will serve as a unique model for a "multi-agency conservation campus" by bringing together state and federal government agencies, non-profit organizations such as the Nature Conservancy and the Bishop Museum, as well as the University faculty and students and enhance the State's ability to address the highest priority conservation/environmental issues; and

WHEREAS, the 2002 Regular Session of the Legislature appropriated $5,500,000 in general obligation bonds for the purchase of the land and improvements of the former Paradise Park; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Kenneth Kaneshiro, Director of the University of Hawaii's Center for Conservation Research and Training, has identified federal, as well as private sources, to fund the costs to operate such a facility so no additional state moneys would be necessary to fund operations; and

WHEREAS, the Center has already secured a $9,000,000 National Science Foundation grant to establish field stations throughout the State over the next three years; and

WHEREAS, the Center will not only help further understanding of preserving and enhancing the sustainability of Pacific island ecosystems, but have implications to human health including potentially identifying the best way to mitigate emerging infectious diseases by better understanding the "ecology" of diseases such as SARS and West Nile and their vectors, as well as developing novel pharmaceuticals even more potent than antibiotics on the market today; and

WHEREAS, these, along with other research programs have the potential for significant multi-million dollar grants including a potential $80,000,000 over twenty years from the National Science Foundation called National Ecological Observatory Network; and

WHEREAS, without a "home base" site such as Paradise Park, Hawaii will be severely handicapped in securing these moneys and fortifying its reputation as the world's premier location for tropical research; now therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the Senate concurring, that the Governor is strongly urged to release the funds appropriated for the acquisition of Paradise Park in Manoa; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii Board of Regents is requested to accelerate negotiations for acquisition of the existing improvements as well as lease and fee interest in the one hundred fifty-acre conservation land parcel that includes the former Paradise Park; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the President of the University of Hawaii, and Chairperson of the Board of Regents.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Paradise Park; University of Hawaii