The University of Hawaiʻi‘s William S. Richardson School of Law is moving forward in partnering with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to attract private grant funding for a new training academy to develop much-needed enforcement officers in the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE).
This initiative received strong support this year from the governor and legislature, which provided $500,928 for the academy.
DOCARE‘s mission is to uphold local laws that protect the state’s natural, historic and cultural environments.
In 2017, a private grant of $148,000 received by law school from the philanthropic Harold K.L. Castle Foundation in Kāneʻohe provided critically needed consulting work by a national authority on conservation officer enforcement training. This grant allowed DOCARE to design a new officer training academy to build legal enforcement capacity in the state.
Since 2013, the law school has received additional private and federal grants, totaling around $490,000 (including from the Castle Foundation), which have supported six full-time fellowships for law school graduates in DOCARE.
The law school has been instrumental in building environmental enforcement capacity through a training academy and a series of fellowships for law graduates.
Associate Dean Denise Antolini says the decade-long partnership with DLNR is an important way to achieve increased protection of Hawaiʻi‘s fragile environment, which is under pressure from invasive species, climate change and record usage by visitors.
See the full story on the law school’s website.
—By Beverly Creamer
