#Dlnr Hawaii

A “floating workshop” hosted by the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) brought lawmakers, agency leaders, community organizations and landowners onto the water to see for themselves the stark differences between coral reefs in decline and reefs that remain healthy and resilient.

Maui’s axis deer population is booming, raising concerns for forests, watersheds and farms. At a recent Invasive Species Meeting, Jeff Bagshaw of the Hawai‘i Division of Forestry and Wildlife urged hunters to prioritize culling to keep the herd in check.

The five ʻalalā, or Hawaiian crows, released last November are demonstrating promising wild behaviors, the Department of Land and Natural Resources reports.

The County of Maui Department of Management invites all community members to participate in the upcoming Maui County Council committee meeting this Thursday, June 5, 2025, at 9 a.m., where the approach for developing a Maui County Urban Forest Management Plan will be discussed.

After losing four buildings in the Lahaina wildfire, the residents of Kahoma Village will be hosting a community planting day to kick off the revitalization of their park space on Saturday, April 26.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ State Historical Preservation Division has named Jessica Puff as it’s new lead, succeeding Dr. Alan Downer who retired earlier this year. Since October 2022, Puff has served as the SHPD Architecture Branch Chief.

Hawaiʻi’s remarkable forest birds and the incredible conservation efforts to save them through the Birds, Not Mosquitoes (BNM) partnership are featured in an upcoming documentary entitled, “Vanishing Voices: Saving Our Hawaiian Forest Birds.”  

For more than a decade, land managers, scientists, and pathologists have been fighting and looking for ways to protect trees from a fungal disease, called Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death or ROD, that has killed over a million lehua ʻōhiʻa, considered the most ecologically and cultural significant native tree in Hawai‘i.

Lance DeSilva, Forest Management Supervisor, DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife said he hopes to get things settled down by Wednesday, “But we’ll stay out here as long as we have to,” he said.

An investigation is underway following reports of two cruise ships that residents say are getting too close to the protected Na Pali Coast on Kauaʻi’s north shore.

Governor Josh Green, M.D., has signed legislation designating an official state kāhuli, or snail, for each of the main Hawaiian islands, as well as the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. In a ceremony this Friday at Washington Place, Gov. Green signed into law House Bill 1899, which recognizes nine native snail species as state snails.

Endangered Hawaiian monk seal RS10 is home on Kauaʻi thanks to community volunteers and joint agency efforts. The seal ingested a fishing hook and was treated at The Marine Mammal Center’s monk seal hospital on Hawaiʻi Island. After a successful hook-removal, RS10 was recently released back to the wild.

The environmental nonprofit Hawai‘i Unites has filed an appeal for their case against the State of Hawai‘i Board of Land and Natural Resources and Department of Land and Natural Resources to stop the release of mosquitoes in East Maui and require an environmental impact statement and comprehensive studies of the risks of the project.

The 34-year-old man made international headlines after surviving a 1,000-foot fall off the Ko‘olau Mountains and lay dazed and alone at the base of a waterfall for three days before he was rescued, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. “All things considered,” is an understatement.

The Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources took part in a second collaborative coral restoration project over the weekend in the waters of Kealakekua Bay, on the Kona side of Hawai‘i Island.

One year after a luxury yacht caused extensive damage to the reef in Honolua Bay on Maui’s northwestern coast, staff and volunteers with the Maui Ocean Center Marine Institute continue to care for coral fragments collected from the reef.

A project to install fencing in West Maui to keep invasive, hoofed animals out of key watershed forests, has a mutually beneficial goal of enhancing human health and environmental well-being.

The Board of Land and Natural Resources on Friday approved plans by the DLNR, and US Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct a pilot release of captive-bred ʻalalā onto forest reserve lands in east Maui. 

Governor Josh Green, M.D., has nominated veteran government attorney Ryan Kanaka‘ole as Department of Land and Natural Resources first deputy, effective Tuesday, Jan. 16. The nomination is subject to confirmation by the Hawai‘i State Senate.

The year 2024 is for the forest birds, thanks to a proclamation signed by Hawaiʻi Governor Josh Green, M.D., on Friday.