A bill passed by the House today is headed to President Obama who is expected to sign the measure into law, creating new national parks and designating millions of acres as wilderness.
The bill includes funding for the National Tropical Botanical Garden, chartered by Congress in 1964, to conducts scientific research in tropical botany and cultivates flora that are threatened by extinction. The Garden operates from Hawaii locations on Kauai, Maui, and in Florida.
The bill authorizes annual appropriations up to $500,000 for operation and maintenance expenses at the Garden which is largely supported by private funds. The 2008 budget for the Garden is $9 million, 95 percent of which will be provided from private sources.
Neil has been an ardent supporter of the Garden's mission and met with its Kauai staff last year. See a video about his visit at:
Kalaupapa memorial The ominbus lands bill passed today also includes funding to establish a memorial at the Kalaupapa National Historical Park on the island of Molokai to honor people who suffered from, or were suspected of having, Hansen’s disease (also known as leprosy) and were forcibly relocated from throughout the Hawaiian islands to Kalaupapa on the island of Moloka‘i beginning in 1866. This policy of exiling people to Kalaupapa continued until 1969, even though the disease was treatable by the late 1940s. Living conditions were extremely harsh at Kalaupapa, leading to much suffering and high mortality.
The memorial will make sure that the names of the approximately 8,000 people who were sent to Kalaupapa will be remembered. More than 75 percent of the exiles were buried in unmarked graves.
Neil cosponsored the bill, which is part of the omnibus lands legislation, to establish the memorial at Kalaupapa National Historical Park. He's a member of the Natural Resources Committee which oversees the National Park Service.
******
Below: The National Tropical Botanical Garden location in Lawai, Kauai, preserves and propgates tropical plants threatened by extinction. The garden stretches from the mountains to the ocean and features waterfalls, reflecting pools, nurseries, research facilities, collections of rare tropical plants, gardens with a European design because of its founders, and a dedicated staff. (Photos/Amy Asselbaye)
