#Department of Land and Natural Resources

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.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee unanimously recommended passage Tuesday of a bill to set user fees only for nonresidents visiting state parks and trails.

Staff from the Kaua‘i Forest Bird Recovery Project heralded Thursday’s first release of male mosquitoes, into a state forest reserve on the vast Alakaʻi Plateau, as momentous.

Volunteers gather at sunset every Thursday to search for invasive coqui frogs in Waimānalo on Oʻahu. The frogs, known for their loud chirp, are a major forest and agricultural pest.

The House of Representatives has passed on second reading a bill to combat the coconut rhinoceros beetle.

The least-virulent strain of the fungal infection known as Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD) was detected late last month in three landscape ʻōhiʻa trees on the campus of a Maui elementary school.

The Senate Committees on Labor & Technology and Public Safety & Military Affairs unanimously passed Senate Bill 1383 on Monday at the State Capitol. The bill would prevent wildfires by adopting an extensive revamping of Hawaiʻi’s fire prevention laws, as proposed by Gov. Josh Green’s administration.

By a 5-2 vote, the House Committee on Housing passed a bill Friday aimed at removing lengthy historic property reviews from delaying housing developments.

The charter sailing vessel Hula Girl’s grounding at Honolua Bay in West Maui is one of three vessels that have run ashore in Maui County as the result of recent stormy weather, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

The House Committee on Human Services & Homelessness advanced a bill Thursday to prohibit homeless encampments near schools.

Dissatisfied by state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ management of small boating facilities, West and South Maui Sen. Angus McKelvey has drafted a bill to transfer maintenance and operations of Māla wharf in Lahaina and the Kīhei boat ramp to Maui County. Under the bill, the County could set permit fees to generate revenue for the facilities’ upkeep.

A report by the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corp. says systemic barriers in Hawaiʻi constrain housing production and lie at the root of the state’s housing shortage and residents’ high cost of living.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources would be required to acquire all West Maui water systems through eminent domain and then hold them in trust for the management by Maui County, according to a bill introduced this legislative session.

“Hawaiʻi Conservation Kuleana,” a new podcast from the DLNR, launches next Monday, Jan. 13. Monthly episodes will explore the complex balance of conservation, cultural stewardship and community engagement in Hawaiʻi.

Commercial operators at Kā‘anapali Beach say the court order could force them to shut down if their permits are not renewed this year, jeopardizing jobs of people impacted by the August 2023 wildfires. 

DLNR reports it is looking into a solution that addresses the environmental concerns of the plaintiffs and concerned community members, while recognizing the economic impact the court’s order has on Kā’anapali permittees and those businesses that rely on these activities to support their families and employees, as they recover from the Lahaina wildfires.

Sunrise on New Year’s Day is at 7:09 a.m., and hikers planning to participate in the annual First Day Hike at Makapu‘u Point Lighthouse Trail in East O‘ahu should get there early to be on top in time for dawn on the first day of 2025.

Thought of an “intensive care” unit for Hawaiian corals, the ʻĀkoʻakoʻa Coral Restoration Nursery near the Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport has been up and running since last spring. Now, the West Hawai‘i facility is the largest outdoor nursery of its type in the Pacific, according to an announcement from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

After more than 33 years in captivity, a rare Hawaiian snail species known as Achatinella fuscobasis was released recently into the Honolulu Watershed Forest Reserve of the Ko‘olau Mountains on O‘ahu.

Nonprofit For the Fishes said it has found that the Maui Ocean Center has repeatedly violated its special permits over the years, and that the state has allowed them to do so with minimal consequences.