#Division of Forestry and Wildlife

The 2025-26 game bird hunting season opens on Nov. 1 and and will run through Jan. 25, the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources announced. To comply with federal mandates, including the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and to meet current state regulations, the last day for hunting mourning doves will be Jan. 11. Statewide, […]

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources has scheduled a public hearing next week to solicit feedback on a comprehensive plan to manage the 3,434-acre Kamehamenui Forest Reserve in Kula.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources has released a draft environmental assessment for the proposed Kamehamenui Forest Reserve Management Plan, covering 3,434 acres of state-owned land in Kula.

Members were walked through the DOFAW’s Kahului Baseyard, where DLNR is leading current fire management efforts.

Effective this morning, Thursday, June 19, 2025, overall command and responsibility for the Kahikinui Brush Fire will move from the County of Maui Department of Fire and Public Safety to the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife.

At a news conference Wednesday, state, county and nonprofit organizations involved in wildfire prevention and suppression, noted that since the devastating series of fires in August 2023, people are finally beginning to pay attention to the risk. They also emphasized that many parts of Hawai‘i continue to be impacted by prolonged drought conditions, with drought already impacting an estimated 386,000 people across the state.

Nearly 200 Kahoma Village homeowners, community members, and local organizations gathered Saturday to restore the landscape in Lahaina by planting 100 native and resilient species to support ongoing post-wildfire recovery.

Wildfire experts, community leaders, emergency responders and policymakers will gather together for the 2025 Hawaiʻi Wildfire Summit, Feb. 27-28 in Kona on Hawaiʻi Island. They’ll share insights and tackle challenges aimed at building a stronger, more wildfire resilient Hawaiʻi.

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 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.

At a signing ceremony Friday, Gov. Josh Green, M.D., proclaimed 2025 as the “Year of Our Community Forests.”

Arbor Day in Hawaiʻi is Nov. 2, and it will be celebrated in Maui County with two events: one at the Maui Nui Botanical Gardens in Kahului with is annual Arbor Day Garden Expo & tree giveaway; and another by the Molokaʻi Land Trust, which will host its second annual native tree giveaway in Kualapuʻu.

The Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry and Wildlife will receive $4.9 million for forest restoration work in areas with high values for carbon sequestration and the highest potential to provide habitat for rare species. The project seeks to plant 80,000 native trees and remove invasive weeds from 1,200 acres.

Eligible private landowners and lessees of Maui Nui have the opportunity to participate in targeted axis deer control through the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife Landowner Incentive Program. The goal of this program is to incentivize Maui, Molokaʻi, and Lānaʻi landowners to decrease the number of axis deer from the landscape. The deadline to submit proposals is Nov. 25, 2024 at 4 p.m.

Hawai‘i residents are being asked to keep their eyes peeled for grounded seabirds during “fallout season” from now until mid-December. And, they should have a small towel and a perforated box handy for rescue missions.

Seven forestry projects have been selected by Kaulunani Urban and Community Forestry, a program of the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW), to receive funds to strengthen community connections with trees. Funding from Kaulunani will support these projects on Kauaʻi, Maui, Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island over the next three years.

Maui Bird Conservation Center staff work to care for endangered Hawaiian forest birds, not to put themselves in harm’s way fighting wildfires. But that’s what happened Aug. 7, 2023, and the next day, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

In an action inspired by last month’s birth of a monk seal on Mokulua island off of O‘ahu’s windward coast, the Board of Land and Natural Resources approved the temporary closure of wildlife sanctuaries statewide when necessary to protect endangered or threatened species.

Prolific herds of hungry Axis deer continue to wreak havoc in Maui County, damaging farm crops, overgrazing livestock pasture lands, threatening fragile watersheds and even encroaching in heavily urbanized areas like Kahului Airport’s runways and baggage claim areas. Without natural predators in the islands, the deer have flourished unchecked. Now, in part due to an initiative funded by Maui County, some deer are falling prey to hungry humans.

A community-led preservation effort safeguards Pōhākea, protecting land, three operating wells and a 750,000-gallon water tank for public benefit. The public purchase enables the reduction of recurrent wildfire risks, enhancement of public access to hiking trails, protection of cultural and scenic resources, and reduction of stormwater runoff and erosion impacting Māʻalaea Bay.