#BLNR

The century-old temple on Maui’s north shore is looking into sand replenishment or an offshore artificial reef to curb the waves before the building and graves are lost to the sea, but neither solution is quick or cheap.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Forestry Program is now accepting applications from individuals and organizations seeking to acquire a koa canoe log for use in kālaiwaʻa – the construction of traditional Hawaiian canoes or waʻa.

The Board of Land and Natural Resources has unanimously approved a new, 25-year lease for Kaheawa Wind Power I, allowing the continued operation of the existing wind energy facility in West Maui.

After several hours of receiving public comments, the Board of Land and Natural Resources voted Friday, Nov. 14, to defer for six months its decision-making on a DLNR Land Division recommendation to hold a contested case hearing over the proposed disposition of a water license by public auction, or by a set aside via a governor’s executive order to the County of Maui, for the diversion of public surface water from the Koʻolau Forest Reserve.

According to Earthjustice, the board has been conducting business and making decisions without satisfying the required qualifications since one of the board members left in August.

The rulemaking decision — made last week during a regular board meeting — follows a prior board vote to ban reef fish collection along with intense public opposition to the capture and sale of native reef fish, many from West Hawaiʻi waters.

The Hawai‘i Board of Land and Natural Resources on Friday unanimously approved a proposed $30,448.67 settlement agreement with Kapalua Kai Sailing, Inc., for the grounding of its vessel, Hula Girl, inside Maui’s Honolua-Mokulē‘ia Bay Marine Life Conservation District, on Jan. 31, 2025.

The Hawai‘i Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed that the Board of Land and Natural Resources violated water advocates’ constitutional rights when it permitted Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. to divert fresh water from East Maui streams as part of a renewal of a Revocable Permit.

An East Maui coastal forest, along the Hāna Highway, is among the beneficiaries of a grant award from the Legacy Land Conservation program.

Hawai‘i’s Intermediate Court of Appeals ruled that a project to control mosquitos to protect endangered birds on Maui can continue. The court sided with Hawai‘i’s Department of Land and Natural Resources and the American Bird Conservancy, represented by the Center for Biological Diversity of Hawaiʻi, and found that the proposed mosquito control project would have no significant harm.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources and its Commission on Water Resource Management is looking to fill the Loea seat after V.R. Hinano Rodrigues of Maui withdrew his nomination.

In a landmark decision, the land board has approved a nonprofit to plan, design and pay for an entire capital improvement project for the DLNR Division of State Parks. The project will take place at Ha’ena State Park on Kauaʻi.

Maui Mayor Richard T. Bissen, Jr. wrote a letter to Board of Land and Natural Resources Chair Dawn Chang, urging her to hold off on holding a contested case hearing on the disposition of an East Maui Water License, scheduled for Friday, Nov. 8. Bissen said talks have already begun between the parties and he wants both sides to have the full opportunity to resolve the issue amicably.

Conservationists on Kauaʻi have started aerial applications of the larvicide Bacillus Thuringiensis Israelensis or BTi, in an effort to suppress populations of the species of mosquito that carries avian malaria. Similar applications are scheduled to begin on Maui after the first of the year. It’s part of the broader effort to save near-extinct populations of honeycreepers like ʻakikiki in native forests.

The Board of Land and Natural Resources increased a fine against the owners and operator of the luxury yacht, Nakoa, to $1,818,85.97 on Friday, to account for biological and cultural damages, as well as “emotional distress to the community.”

The Hawaiʻi Board of Land and Natural Resources, as represented by the Department of the Attorney General, prevailed on appeal in a case regarding the continuation of revocable permits for the diversion of water from streams in East Maui to Central and Upcountry Maui.

On Wednesday night, members of the Upcountry community gathered to discuss a possible public-private partnership aimed at incrementally building one to four water wells in Kula, Maui.

Today, after nearly 30 years of grassroots community planning and engagement within their moku and across Maui and the state, Hawaiʻi nonprofit organization Kīpahulu ‘Ohana, Inc. saw their Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area (CBSFA) signed into law.

Six months after reaching a settlement with owners of a luxury yacht for its grounding, removal and damage to natural resources, the owners still have not paid the thousands of dollars owed to the state.

The Board of Land and Natural Resources approved amendments to Hawai‘i Administrative Rules pertaining to “License and Permit Provisions and Fees for Fishing, Fish, and Fish Products” on Friday.