October NRS Speakers' Series: From Agriculture to Fish and Wildlife, Still Protecting Hawaii

On Tuesday, October 4, 2011, the Natural Resources Section (NRS) will hold its monthly brown bag lunch meeting from 12:00 to 1:00 pm at the HSBA conference room.

NRS will host Domingo Cravalho, Jr, an Invasive Species Biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)-Ecological Services, Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office in Honolulu, Hawaii.  Mr. Cravalho’s presentation is entitled, “From Agriculture to Fish and Wildlife, Still Protecting Hawaii.”

As an Invasive Species Biologist with the USFWS, Mr. Cravalho’s roles and responsibilities include a focus on brown treesnake issues as well as other invasive species efforts including biosecurity and quarantine in the State of Hawaii, the U.S. Territories of Guam and American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, with future expanded roles throughout other areas in the Pacific region.  He previously worked for the State of Hawaii Department of Agriculture and retired as the Inspection and Compliance Section Chief with the Plant Quarantine Branch in November 2010.  With over 30 years with the State, his former duties included lead inspector in the enforcement of violations into plant and non-domestic animal quarantine laws, assisted with the development and implementation of the Hawaii Biosecurity Program, ensured that proper assessment protocols were followed for the entry of restricted plants, animals and microorganisms, developed program policies and procedures for implementation, drafted proposed quarantine regulations for rulemaking, and worked with the horticultural and agricultural industries in Hawaii to maintain quarantine protection.  He was born and raised in Hawaii and graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science degree in General Agriculture from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Non-NRS members welcome on a space available basis.

Evolving the Way We Think about Transportation

Article: Tom Downs, Demographics as Destiny, citiwire.net, Sept. 3, 2011, available at http://citiwire.net/post/2912.

Summary: Mr. Downs discusses the impact of changing demographics (Baby Boomers and Gen. X and Y) on suburbia. He suggests that "walking, biking and transit are about to become the next wave of transportation to shape our urban areas," which requires us to evolve our thinking about transportation:

It ultimately comes down to how we think about the use of the public right of way. Most successful regions start with mapping the way people are walking, biking and using transit in the same way we used to count cars: Look at the flow and the demand. Plan sidewalks with walking in mind. Repair the sidewalks that are falling apart. (It is actually pretty cheap to do.) And how about transit that allows riders to track buses and trains in real time on their cell phones? How about bike accessible transit? How about signal coordination for buses? How about setting a goal for the percent of commuters who bike to work? Most planners say that their weather is not conducive to biking, but the second highest percentage of commuters who bike to work is in Minneapolis (winter) 3.4 percent. Portland, Oregon (rain) is, of course, first with 4.5 percent.

Can Housing Alone Pull Us Out of the Recession?

Article: Penelope Lemov, The Trouble with Housing, Governing, Sept. 15, 2011, available at http://www.governing.com/topics/finance/trouble-with-housing.html.

Summary: The author of the article interviewed Doug Duncan, the chief economist for Fannie Mae; David Merriman, an economics professor and associate director of the Institute of Government Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago; and Tracy Turner, economics professor at Kansas State University.

Here is the gist of their responses:

• Economists have long held that housing is the industry that typically leads the nation out of recession 
• Industry forecasts still predict housing will continue, for the foreseeable future, to be a drag on the economy 
• In the U.S., there are only 60,000 completed new homes available for sale -- the lowest number since World War II 
• The housing market is particularly hard on laid off (or in the case of Hawaii, payroll reduced) government employees who work in public schools, fire departments and police  
• Because housing values are low, people and businesses are conservative about spending and reluctant to invest or expand 
• This is the largest housing bust since the Great Depression 
• For every $1 decline in house value, a homeowner spends 6 cents less in the community, which takes a toll on the sales tax and on general economic activity 
• Mr. Merriman says, "a recovery in housing is key to an economic recovery," but Ms. Turner concludes, "I wouldn't rely on housing to lead us out of this recession."