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Editorials
Tuesday, December 5, 2000Coral reef reserve for
NW Hawaiian islesThe issue: President Clinton has created the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve
EVERYONE concerned with environmental protection can endorse President Clinton's desire to preserve the coral reefs around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a string of small, uninhabited islands extending 1,400 miles northwest of Kauai.
Clinton yesterday established the largest protected area in the United States, an 84 million-acre reserve around the islands, by issuing an executive order creating the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve. The area contains nearly 70 percent of the United States' coral reefs.
The president's order caps commercial and recreational fishing at current levels but allows Hawaiian subsistence and cultural uses of the area. Oil, gas and mineral production and the removal of coral are prohibited.
The order temporarily closes about 5 percent of the reserve but the Commerce Department will seek public comment on whether to close the areas permanently.
The president said his actions were designed to preserve the islands' natural beauty "for a long time -- I hope, forever." We share that hope.
However, there is a question whether the action will result in unduly restrictive controls on fishing, which could affect consumers here, as well as on the gathering of coral.
During a refueling stop by Clinton's plane on the Big Island last month, Governor Cayetano met with the president and said he had extracted a promise to halt a proposal to ban fishing and the gathering of coral in the islands. Cayetano had previously written to Clinton opposing the designation of the islands as a national monument. Hawaii's congressional delegation also opposed such action.
Cayetano said, "What we wanted was to be able to work out an agreement between the state, the U.S. Department of Commerce and (the Western Fisheries Management Council), and (Clinton) agreed to that." However, it appeared that Clinton has not deferred action until such an agreement was reached.
The views of the congressional delegation and the governor conflicted with the position of the Hawaiian environmental alliance Kahea, which had lobbied in Washington in favor of monument status. Kahea maintained that status was needed to halt the depletion of the fish population and damage to the coral reefs.
The reserve announced by the president presumably would be less restrictive than monument status, but the fisheries council, which represents the interests of commercial fishing operators, opposed that, too.
A 30-day period for comment has begun and hearings will begin in Hawaii next week. But Senator Inouye blasted the plan for hearings as inadequate, saying, "This is hardly the level and extent of input and deliberation needed."
Certainly full consideration of the implications of the program is needed. Inouye's objections should not be ignored.
To the extent that commercial fishing activity is compatible with such protection, it should be permitted. However, environmental protection -- in this case as well as in the recent controversy over protection of sea turtles -- must receive the highest priority.
Hazard of kava
ONE of the biggest beneficiaries of the craze for natural remedies has been kava, the herbal root and traditional elixir of the South Pacific. Tea made from powdered kava root has long been used in cultural and religious ceremonies in Tonga, Fiji, Samoa and other South Pacific islands, as well as in Hawaii.
Recently the traditional Polynesian drink has developed a reputation as a natural alternative to muscle relaxers and anti-anxiety medicines, with the result that it is now one of the best selling herbal remedies in the nation.
But there's a down side to kava. As Jean Christensen of the Associated Press reported, people who take kava can become too relaxed to function at the wheel of a car, much like those who become drunk on alcohol.
Honolulu Deputy Prosecutor David Sandler said, "If you abuse kava, it's the same thing as abusing alcohol. The difference is, in Hawaii we can't prosecute it."
Kava is not an illegal narcotic under Hawaii law and the law does not ban driving while under the influence of kava.
Nor is Hawaii one of the states that bans any substance that impairs a person's ability to drive. Bills that would have added Hawaii to the list of those states have died in the Legislature.
Sandler said he does not know of any cases of drivers getting into accidents after drinking kava but added it is hard for police to gauge the extent of the problem. Kava is not among the substances authorities test for when a person is suspected of driving while intoxicated.
Carol McNamee, national vice president for public policy for Mothers Against Drunk Driving and a member of the MADD Hawaii board, said the group supports legislative action. McNamee explained, "Any substance that impairs driving is of concern to MADD."
The situation must be corrected. The bill banning any substance that impairs drivers' ability should be reintroduced in the next session of the Legislature. It would be intolerable that a driver who became incapacitated under the influence of kava would not face appropriate penalties because of this loophole.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
