Extinction Prevention Programs

I would like to see funds go toward the Plant Extinction Prevention Program (PEPP) and the Snail Extinction Prevention Program (SEPP) within the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources. These are two agencies that often go overlooked within the DLNR, yet they have such an important task, working within some of the most arduous landscapes in our state. Providing each with additional funding could allow them to bring on new hires, pay their longest-standing employees more, and better manage their captive rearing facilities, like greenhouses. So often, attention within Hawaiʻi’s natural resources goes toward what the public regularly interacts with—like trails, fishing, and shorelines—but the extinction prevention programs often go unnoticed, and they need all the help they can get!