On an island where hunting is big business, the state and Pulama Lana’i are working to extend a contract that expires in 2018 and allows the public to hunt within Lanai’s 30,000-acre game management area.
Pulama Lana’i is offering a three-year extension to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, and while some hunters were pushing for a five-year extension or possibly 10, they say they’ll take what they can get.
Hunting “is a tremendous asset to this community,” said Ron McOmber, a longtime hunter and current member of the Hunting Advisory Group that is working with Pulama Lana’i. “We bring hundreds of hunters here every season to hunt on Lanai.”
The current agreement expires Feb. 28, 2018. In a statement Wednesday, Pulama Lana’i said it expects to have a deal before then.
“The agreement is under review by the state at this time, and we expect to execute the extension before the current lease reaches the end of its term,” the company said. “Hunting is a valued pastime not only for residents of Lanai, but also for many in Hawaii and we intend to keep the 30,000 acres of hunting lands in its current use.”
Jim Cogswell, wildlife manager with the Division of Forestry and Wildlife, agreed that the two parties were “making good progress towards finalization without any major issues.”
Since the 1950s, the department has had hunting agreements with the various companies that have bolstered Lanai’s economy, from Dole in the days of pineapple plantations to Castle & Cooke, and now Pulama Lana’i, said Shane De Mattos, wildlife biologist with the department’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife. The state has had a contract with Pulama Lana’i for about five years, since Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison purchased 97 percent of the island. According to department documents, the state pays $35,000 each year to lease the land.
The axis deer, mouflon sheep and birds on Lanai are a major draw for off-island hunters. Lanai’s game management area takes up a third of the island and offers one of the largest contiguous hunting spaces in Maui County. Every year, about 5,000 people apply to hunt there, according to De Mattos. McOmber said that during the most recent deer season, which ended a couple of months ago, about 2,800 hunters applied and just about all were chosen. That amounted to nearly 170 hunters per weekend.
Residents said the affordable fees are what draw so many people – for deer or sheep, it’s $20 a tag for Hawaii residents and $125 for non-Hawaii residents. All hunters must pay a $10 application fee and enter a lottery to secure a weekend slot, except archery hunters, according to the department’s website. Lanai residents get first priority.
Many on Lanai rely on the income that stems from renting out trucks and lodging to the visiting hunters, McOmber said. The 77-year-old retired airport maintenance worker recently had to give up hunting after 46 years, but he still rents out three homes and five trucks to incoming hunters.
Joelle Aoki, another hunter and member of the advisory group, said hunting is not just a tourism venture. It helps control the wild game and provides subsistence for local families. Many residents who put their names into the lottery do so because they rely on the meat and are willing to share space with hundreds of other hunters every weekend, she said. For them, it’s cheaper than stocking up at the local grocery store or Costco.
Based on department aerial surveys in the fall of 2015, the axis deer population was estimated at 2,235 and mouflon sheep at 1,568 in the game management area. Outside of that area, within Pulama Lana’i hunting grounds, the deer population is estimated at 2,399 and sheep at 785. All together, that’s nearly double the island’s human population.
Aoki, who’s also the executive director of the Coalition for a Drug Free Lanai, said that “you’re lucky if you make 20” mph while driving on Manele Bay Highway late at night.
“The speed limit is 35 . . . but you have to drive slower because there is such an abundance of animals,” Aoki said.
Information on how much money hunting generates specifically for Lanai is difficult to come by. In general, licenses, tags, fees and other hunting-related revenue brought in about $580,000 for the state in fiscal year 2016, according to the department’s Wildlife Revolving Fund report to the state Legislature. The estimated overall impact from hunting in Hawaii was $73 million in 2011.
Starting in 2018, Pulama Lana’i also will bring in a company called the Pineapple Brothers to be the sole vendor of commercial guided hunts outside of the game management area. According to its website, Pineapple Brothers will partner with Georgia-based High Adventure Co.
Aoki and McOmber explained that Pineapple Brothers had originally wanted to offer commercial guided hunts within the game management area, which the department doesn’t allow. After opposition from the hunting advisory group and a letter of concern from the department, the company dropped the plan.
Lanai resident Bobby Neilson, who stays busy butchering game that visiting hunters bring in, said he was still concerned that the Mainland-based company’s eventual goal was to gain access to the game management area.
“Pineapple Brothers is not operating in the GMA, nor do we have any intentions or plans to operate in the GMA,” managing partner Martin Gilvary said Wednesday in response. “Additionally we have no plans to raise the price of any of the unguided permits.”
Pulama Lana’i added that it will continue to handle self-guided hunting permits outside the game management area and that the process and fees for residents will stay the same.
For full rates, visit lanai96763.com/sites/default/files/information-items/Hunting-2017.pdf. For more information on hunting within the game management area, visit dlnr.hawaii.gov/recreation/hunting/hunt-lanai/.
* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.
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