For the first time since she took office Governor Linda Lingle used an executive order to resurrect a bill that died during a legislative session.
Executive order 10-07 creates two surfing reserves, from the Waikiki Natatorium to the Ala Wai Canal on the Oahu’s South Shore and from Haleiwa to Sunset Beach on the North Shore.
Lingle’s order is modeled after a bill introduced by Republican state Senator Fred Hemmings, a 1968 world champion surfer and member of the International Surfing Hall of Fame.
“It's a great day for surfing,” said Hemmings, during a press conference with the governor.
Although Hemmings’ measure won unanimous approval in the state Senate, House Democrats voted to recommit the bill on the final day of the session, effectively killing it for another year.
The eleventh hour maneuvering upset many Republicans who wanted to honor Hemmings before he officially retired at the end of the year.
In a statement released Wednesday, House Speaker Calvin Say said the move to recommit the bill “was not intended to be a slight against Senator Hemmings,” whom he said he likes and respects.
The true reason for killing the bill, said Say, was because many in the surfing community had raised concerns about the creation of surfing reserves as the session neared an end.
“Rightly or wrongly, the callers were concerned that the surfing reserve designation would result in an advantage for commercial surf contests over recreational surfing."
Say said another practical question has been raised since the end of the legislative session – whether surfing reserves would give precedence to surfing over other recreational activities.
“What would the consequences be of the surfing reserve designation on swimmers, fishermen, snorklers, and canoe paddlers?” asked the House speaker.
During a press conference Hemmings insisted Gov. Lingle’s executive order did nothing more than honor surfing as a part of Hawaii’s heritage. He also said it would not hamper development as some have suggested.
“It has absolutely zero impact as far as the status quo as far as what the DLNR can and cannot do with offshore management,” he said. "It's simply and effort to honor and recognize who and what we are in the world of surfing."
However, some in Hawaii’s surfing community remain hesitant.
George Downing, contest director of the Quiksilver Eddie Aikau big wave contest and spokesman for Save Our Surf, said lawmakers did not communicate effectively with the surfing public about the creation of surfing reserves.
“The communities of the South Shore and the North Shore were not advised, consulted or given the opportunity to address the bill in a fair and timely manner,” Downing wrote in April to lawmakers.
Lingle’s executive order states DLNR can help promote the protection of Hawaii’s surfing reserves but that it does not carry the weight of law.
“It does what Sen. Hemmings was trying to achieve,” said the governor, “which is officially designate these two areas as recognized surfing reserves in the state of Hawaii.”
Lingle’s executive order can be overturned by the next governor or through legislative action.
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