(Honolulu) - Kalauao valley has a long history of providing for the people of Hawai‘i. Historically, the valley was used to gather plants and herbs used for healing practices at Keaīwa Heiau. The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) recently purchased 635 acres in Kalauao Valley from Bishop Museum. Funding for the acquisition was provided by the State’s Legacy Land Conservation Program and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Recovery Land Acquisition Program.

HONOLULU -- The existing path and stairway to the Waianapanapa State Park black sand beach and bay will be closed for about 3 weeks, beginning on Monday, November 7, 2016, as a part of the DLNR Division of State Parks’ ongoing capital improvement project on the pedestrian pathways throughout the park. Pailoa Beach will not be accessible during the construction of a new concrete pathway with steps at that location.

(Honolulu) – The State Bureau of Conveyances, one of the divisions of the Dept. of Land and Natural Resources, is now in the second phase of a four-phase project to convert more than 170 years of vital state records into permanent, digital format. The Hawai‘i Bureau of Conveyances is the only single statewide recording office in the country. It examines, records, and indexes more than 344,000 land and property documents and maps each year and it issues Land Court Certificates of Title and certifies copies of matters of record. On a daily basis, the Bureau of Conveyances inputs 1,100-1,500 documents and its documents date back to 1845.

(HONOLULU) – They’re fast and stable; and given Hawai‘i’s frequently rough waters, the two new Sea Blade 23 law enforcement vessels acquired the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE), fit the bill. Today one of the 23-foot long, aluminum, center-control console boats, the Malama Kai II, was blessed during a ceremony at the Keehi Small Boat Harbor. It will be based on Oahu and used by DOCARE’s Marine Enforcement Unit. The other vessel has been in service at Kona on Hawai‘i Island for several months and will be blessed at a later date. Officers are using it there to enforce rules associated with swimming with dolphins and other marine animals, as well as for general law enforcement purposes.

WAIMEA, KAUAI – Three (3) bridges along the Mohihi-Camp 10 Access Road in the Na Pali-Kona state forest reserve will undergo construction to replace them, starting Monday, November 7, 2016 through May 31, 2017. Existing bridges are aged, deteriorated and in need of replacement. Project contractor is Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. and the project cost is $2,414,000.

HONOLULU -- The public is invited to the annual Arbor Day plant sale on Friday, November 4 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife O‘ahu plant nursery at 2135 Makiki Heights Dr., in Honolulu.