Department of Land and Natural Resources

(Lihue, Kaua‘i) – After more than a month of rehabilitation a pueo (Hawaiian Short-Eared Owl) was released late yesterday on private ranch land in west Kaua‘i. The release site is near to where the young bird was rescued in late March and taken to the Save our Shearwaters (SOS) facility at the Kaua‘i Humane Society.

HILO -- The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) will conduct animal control activities specifically for trapping mouflon/feral sheep hybrids; staff hunting, and/or aerial shooting from helicopters for feral goats, feral sheep, mouflon and mouflon/feral sheep hybrids within palila critical habitat in the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve (Unit A), Mauna Kea Ice Age Natural Area Reserve (Unit K), Palila Mitigation Lands, and the Ka‘ohe Game Management Area (Unit G) on the island of Hawai‘i.

HONOLULU – If you love your fresh-caught local lobster or Kona crab, remember the closed season for ula (spiny lobster), ula papapa (slipper lobster) and Kona crab runs from May 1 through the end of August. During that time it's illegal to take, possess, or sell these shellfish.

(Honolulu) – The DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) is recruiting candidates to fill approximately 25 (twenty-five) positions for Conservation Resources Enforcement Officers (CREO) II, III, and IV. DOCARE’s mission is to effectively uphold the laws that serve to protect, conserve and manage Hawaiʻi’s unique and limited natural, cultural and historic resources held in public trust for current and future generations of visitors and the people of Hawai’i nei.

This week, eight years after the Kamehameha Butterfly was designated as the Hawai‘i State insect, 94 of the stunning, captive-raised butterflies, were released in the Kawainui Marsh. This is both the culmination of and the beginning of an unusual path towards species conservation.

If you launch a boat from one of O‘ahu’s small boat harbors you’ll see one. If you start hiking up one of the island’s popular trails you’re bound to see one. By the end of today, 25 large, conservation messaging signs will have been installed at various locations under the jurisdiction of the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). Another five signs are portable and will be used for various outreach and education purposes.

In an order (Minute Order No. 43) issued today, contested case hearing officer Judge Riki May Amano (ret.) notified the parties of upcoming filing deadlines in the Contested Case Hearing for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) Conservation District Use Application (CDUA) at the Mauna Kea Science Reserve. During the evidentiary portion of the Contested Case Hearing, spread over five months in late 2016 and early 2017, twenty-five parties to the case presented testimony and evidence.

Five public libraries on Hawai‘i island and O‘ahu now have copies of transcripts from Contested Case HA-16-02 regarding the Conservation District Use Application (CDUA) for the Thirty Meter Telescope at the Mauna Kea Science Reserve. The copies are available for public review but they cannot be checked out. Any parties to the contested case or members of the public who wish to have a copy directly from the court reporter should contact the court reporting agencies listed below.

A boat operator, who advertised his “Epic Boat After Party,” on social media, was cited by the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) on Easter Sunday for conducting commercial activities without a permit. Among the 15 passengers Adam Taylor carried on his boat to the Ahu o Laka sand bar in Kaneohe Bay, were undercover DOCARE officers who paid Taylor fees for a boat ride. All commercial activities conducted from State small boat harbors, facilities, and near shore waters require a permit from the DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation.

The Hawai‘i State Water Commission approved a mediated settlement today that will immediately restore continuous flows in the Waimea River, as well as provide the opportunity for a renewable energy project, water for Hawaiian homesteading, and farming.