Tanaka v. State, Department of Land & Natural Resources

175 P.3d 126, 117 Haw. 16, 2007 Haw. App. LEXIS 711
CourtHawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 31, 2007
DocketNo. 27487
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 175 P.3d 126 (Tanaka v. State, Department of Land & Natural Resources) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tanaka v. State, Department of Land & Natural Resources, 175 P.3d 126, 117 Haw. 16, 2007 Haw. App. LEXIS 711 (hawapp 2007).

Opinion

Opinion of the Court by

WATANABE, Presiding J.

This appeal stems from two consolidated cases for declaratory and injunctive relief, challenging the following actions by Defendants-Appellees State of Hawai'i (the State) and Department of Land and Natural Resources, State of Hawái'i (DLNR or the department) (collectively, State Defendants) as being in violation of Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) chapter 91 (1993 & Supp.2006), the Hawaii Administrative Procedure Act (HAPA): (1) allowing game-bird hunting in the County of Hawai'i on Wednesdays and Thursdays, (2) requiring hunters to purchase [18]*18a midlife-conservation stamp and a bird-hunting stamp before they can obtain a license to hunt for birds, and (3) allowing black-powder hunting in areas restricted to archery hunting by DLNR rules. Plaintiffs-Appellants Melvin T. Tanaka, James Watt, Masaichi Takaki, and Dexter Egdamin (collectively, Tanaka Plaintiffs) filed Civil No. 04-1-357, alleging claims 1 and 2, and Plaintiff-Appellant Katsuya Yamada (Yamada) filed Civil No. 04-1-358, alleging all three claims. In this opinion, Tanaka Plaintiffs and Yamada will be collectively referred to as Appellants.

The Circuit Court of the Third Circuit (the circuit court)1 entered judgment in favor of State Defendants and against Appellants as to claims 1 and 2, and in favor of Yamada and against State Defendants as to claim 3. Appellants timely appealed from the adverse judgment as to claims 1 and 2. State Defendants did not appeal from the judgment as to claim 3.

We conclude that DLNR exceeded its authority when it allowed game-bird hunting on Wednesdays and Thursdays and exacted fees for the wildlife-conservation and bird-hunting stamps (the stamp fees) without going-through the rulemaking procedures set forth in HRS chapter 91. Accordingly, we reverse the circuit court’s judgment as to claims 1 and 2.

BACKGROUND

Appellants are avid game-bird hunters and reside on the island of Hawaii. DLNR is the state agency responsible for managing and administering “wildlife, ... game management areas, [and] public hunting areas,” HRS § 171-3 (Supp.2006); regulating hunting activities on state lands, HRS chapter 183D (1993 & Supp.2006); and enforcing state hunting laws. Id. DLNR is “headed by an executive board ... known as the board of land and natural resources” (the Board), HRS § 171-3, which is “composed of seven members, one from each land district[2] and three at large, to be nominated and, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, appointed by the governor[.]” HRS § 171-4(a) (Supp.2006) (footnote added).

Pursuant to HRS § 183D-2(12) (1993 & Supp.2006), DLNR is charged with the duty to “[p]reserve, protect, and promote public hunting.” HRS § 183D-4(a) (Supp.2006) provides that “[f]or the purposes of preserving, protecting, conserving, and propagating wildlife, [DLNR] shall establish, maintain, manage, and operate game management areas, wildlife sanctuaries, and public hunting-areas on land under its control[.]” In addition, HRS § 183D-3 (1993) provides:

Rules. Subject to chapter 91, the department shall adopt, amend, and repeal rules:
(1) Concerning the preservation, protection, regulation, extension, and utilization of, and conditions for entry into wildlife sanctuaries, game management areas, and public hunting areas designated by the department;
(2) Protecting, conserving, monitoring, propagating, and harvesting wildlife;
(3) Concerning size limits, bag limits, open and closed seasons, and specifications of hunting gear which may be used or possessed; and
(4) Setting fees for activities permitted under this chapter, unless otherwise provided for by law.
The rules may vary from county to county or in any part of the county and may specify certain days of the week or certain hours of the day in designating open seasons, except that any fees established by rule shall be the same for each county. All rules shall have the force and effect of law.

(Emphasis added.)

As authorized by HRS § 183D-3, DLNR promulgated administrative rules that regulate game-bird hunting. See Hawaii Administrative Rules (HAR) title 13, chapter 122 (1999). Pursuant to HAR § 13-122-4 (1999),3 which references and incorporates an [19]*19Exhibit l,4 DLNR: (a) established “Saturdays, Sundays, and State Holidays” as “Open Hunting Days” for game birds on the island of Hawai'i; and (b) provided that “[t]he [B]oard or its authorized representative may ... lengthen hunting seasons; and open special hunting ... seasons; whenever, after study by the division, the action is deemed to be in the public interest.”

On October 17, 2004, without revising any of its rules, DLNR published a notice in the Hawaii Tribune Herald announcing “the opening of the 2004-2005 Game Bird Hunting Season on Saturday, November 6, 2004.” The notice stated, in part:

Due to significant rainfall received throughout the game bird breeding season this year, department biologists are predicting good results around the state. The fall season will run through Monday, January 17, 2005, (Martin Luther King Day) with legal hunting days on Saturday, Sunday, and state holidays with exceptions as noted below. Mauna Kea Game Management Area and privately owned lands on the Island of Hawaii will be open to hunt ers on two weekdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, this season due to good game bird resources....
ISLAND OF HAWAII
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PORTIONS OF THE POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA (PTA) will be made available to hunting when not in conflict with military training activities.... When allowed, hunting days will be on Wednesdays, Thursdays, iveekends, and state holidays ....
KAOHE & MAUNA KEA GAME MANAGEMENT AREA will be open for game bird hunting on Wednesdays, Thursdays, iveekends and state holidays throughout the game bird hunting season. Wild turkeys can only be hunted during the month of November....
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PRIVATELY OWNED LANDS on the island of Hawaii may be open to game bird hunting on Wednesdays, Thursdays, weekends, and state holidays, at the landowner’s discretion.

Pursuant to HRS § 183D-21 (Supp.2006),5

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Related

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Tanaka v. STATE, LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES
175 P.3d 126 (Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
175 P.3d 126, 117 Haw. 16, 2007 Haw. App. LEXIS 711, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tanaka-v-state-department-of-land-natural-resources-hawapp-2007.