Suzanne Case has completed her second term at the end of December as the Chair of the State Board of Land and Natural Resources.
Her legacy of accomplishments was celebrated by her leadership team and Senator Lorraine Inouye as Case presided over her last meeting.
According to a release from the BLNR, Case received a large, framed certificate after Sen. Inouye detailed a list of accomplishments, board service, and awards during Case’s career.
Prior to joining DLNR, Case spent 28 years serving in leadership positions with The Nature Conservancy, including as Hawaii Program Executive Director from 2001 until she joined DLNR in 2015. During her tenure with TNC, she implemented dozens of initiatives in many western states and across the Pacific.
In addition to her duties as chairperson of DLNR and BLNR, she is the Chair of the State Commission on Water Resource Management, co-chair of the Governor’s Sustainable Hawai‘i Initiative, the Hawai‘i Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Commission, Hawai‘i Invasive Species Committee, and a member of the Hawai‘i Board of Agriculture and the Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission.
Inouye said Case focused on good government, transparency and inclusion, providing leadership for watershed protection initiatives, marine management, biosecurity, food security and renewable energy.
In her role as DLNR Chair, Case oversees eleven divisions and four offices with a combined staff of nearly 1,000. The DLNR divisions steward virtually everything to do with natural and cultural resources in Hawai‘i.