Following a grueling day-and-a-half of tough questions and tense discussion, a Senate committee Thursday rejected Gov. David Ige’s choice of Carleton Ching as chairman of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources.

However, the Senate Committee on Water and Land Committee’s 5-2 vote against Ching is only a recommendation.

It sets the stage for a full Senate vote to see whether Ching, vice president of community relations for one of the largest developers in the state and by far Ige’s most controversial Cabinet pick, will get the job overseeing 1.3 million acres of state land, 750 miles of coastline, fisheries, reserves and other resources unique to Hawaii.

As Ching and Ige both looked on Thursday, several senators took turns voicing concerns — and echoing the testimony of scores of environmental advocates — that Ching had neither the background nor expertise needed to lead the state agency assigned to protect the state’s natural resources.

"Would we hire a tax director and ask that she learn accounting on the job?" Sen. Russell Ruderman (D, Puna) asked.

Those senators further worried that Ching’s longtime role as lobbyist for developers, most recently for Castle & Cooke Hawaii, might put him at odds with the DLNR mission.

Ruderman joined Sens. Laura Thielen, Maile S.L. Shimabukuro, Gil Riviere and Les Ihara Jr. in recommending against Ching’s appointment.

Meanwhile, Sens. Brickwood Galuteria and Sam Slom, the Senate’s lone Republican, voted to support Ching’s appointment.

After the vote, Ige said he was disappointed but reasserted that Ching is the right pick to lead DLNR, an agency with 10 divisions and some 900 employees, based on Ching’s managerial background.

"I did not hear anything, in the hours of testimony, that would disqualify Carleton from serving as the chair of the Department of Land and Natural Resources," Ige said at his Capitol offices. "I am very much concerned about the guilt-by-association perspective of the committee" that experience with developers makes him unfit to serve, Ige said.

"We do pursue people who are outside of state government for a reason, because they can add a different perspective," Ige said.

Ching later said that he wasn’t offended by the committee vote — that it was "part of the democratic process" — and that he remains committed to moving forward as Ige’s pick.

During the hearing, Ching presented himself as a Department of Land and Natural Resources director who would be unfamiliar at first with many of the policies and details that guide the department, but also as someone who would strive to seek the proper balance — "the sweet spot" — between private interests and the public good in Hawaii.

He added that his approach to the job would be to comply with the laws that are already in place, and to fulfill DLNR’s mission.

Nonetheless, senators on the committee appeared to want a candidate more familiar with DLNR-related issues. They also expressed interest for someone who would be a fervent and vocal advocate for the agency and its mission, rather than a chairman who would merely uphold the law.

When Ching declared during the hearing that "we all have the same interests" to protect Hawaii’s natural resources, Thielen countered that the DLNR director would often have to weigh competing interests and make difficult decisions that go beyond merely upholding the law.

Ige had clearly been irked by some of the questioning during the committee’s marathon hearing over two days. At one point Thursday he stood and interrupted Thielen, the chairwoman, to say, "I don’t quite understand what this question has to do with the confirmation."

Thielen (D, Hawaii Kai-Waimanalo-Kailua) had asked what message Ching would give to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature when its members hold their first U.S.-based gathering in Hawaii.

Thielen, a previous Land Board chairwoman, also raised questions about potential conflicts should any of Ching’s previous employers come before the agency. Ching has also worked for real estate developer Westloch Inc., Molokai Ranch, and for project management and engineering firm SSFM International.

He served on the board of the Building Industry Association and the Land Use Research Foundation (LURF), a nonprofit organization established to promote the interests of the development industry.

On Wednesday, the hearing’s first day, Thielen grilled Ching about his time with LURF. She said the group had repeatedly lobbied state lawmakers to exempt developers from the safeguards that protect public beach access and the right to traditional and cultural practices while Ching was on the LURF board.

When Ching told her he wasn’t aware of those LURF actions, Thielen appeared taken aback — and she later cited the issues in that exchange as a big reason for her vote against his appointment.

After the hearing, Ching said the LURF board had given its executive director wide latitude to pursue the group’s interests and to handle its affairs without board scrutiny.

He added that he now opposes as an individual the efforts that LURF was pursuing.

The Ching nomination has emerged as the first dramatic test of Ige’s determination and political prowess as governor, but he will have significant advantages when the confirmation reaches the full Senate.

Just months ago Ige was a long-standing member of a large political faction in the Senate known as the "Chess Club," and he has loyal friends there.

Ching, meanwhile, expressed eagerness to get to DLNR’s helm as soon as possible

"I’d like to get there as soon as I can. Not to hurt them — to help them," he said Thursday.

Star-Advertiser reporter Kevin Dayton and the Associated Press contributed to this report.