A public information meeting to initiate the North Kohala Agricultural Water Study will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, August 16, 2017 at the Kohala Village Hub – Barn, located at 55-514 Hawi Road, in Hawi, North Kohala, Hawai‘i. The meeting is sponsored by DLNR and Sen. Lorraine Inouye.

Volunteers are invited to participate in a community workday and free fun activities to help restore the natural ecosystem of three anchialine pools in the Mahai‘ula section of Kekaha Kai State Park on Saturday, July 29. A beach cleanup is also part of the day’s events.

Volunteers are invited to participate in a community workday and free fun activities to help restore the natural ecosystem of three anchialine pools in the Mahai‘ula section of Kekaha Kai State Park on Saturday, July 29. A beach cleanup is also part of the day’s events.

Since the first of this year, DLNR Division of State Parks maintenance staff on Kaua‘i have gathered, bagged, and airlifted 10.92 tons of rubbish from the Kalalau section of the Napali Coast State Wilderness Park. At least monthly, regular clean-up operations, have resulted in between 520 pounds and 2380 pounds of trash and waste being airlifted by helicopter out of the area. During some months maintenance crews conducted two-to-four operations.

A young Pueo, or Hawaiian Short-eared Owl, rescued in late March, was killed by a car on the highway between Waimea and Hanapepe two months after it had been released. The owl was originally spotted on March 22, 2017 by Dr. André Raine of the Kaua‘i Endangered Seabird Recovery Project (KESRP), who found it on the side of the road in Ele ele where it had also been struck by a car. He took the injured Pueo to the Save our Shearwaters (SOS) facility at the Kaua‘i Humane Society for treatment and rehabilitation.

This Natural Area Reserve (NAR) is prime breeding and nesting area for the critically endangered Hawaiian Petrel and Newell’s Shearwater. A recent analysis of long-term radar studies on Kaua‘i revealed massive declines in populations of endangered seabirds here. The study showed that between 1993 and 2013, populations of the ‘A‘o (Newell’s Shearwater) declined by 94% and Ua‘u (Hawaiian Petrel) by 78%. In addition to the threats from introduced predators, Kaua‘i’s endangered seabirds are under threat from a whole suite of issues, including powerline collisions, light attraction and invasive plants – as well as threats at sea which could include overfishing, by-catch and the effects of climate change.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) will hold public hearings statewide starting next week on proposed amendments to state boating rules.

‘Iao Valley State Monument is now not expected to reopen until early August 2017, as the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) continues work to complete repairs to make the park safe for public visitation following major flooding and damage in late 2016. It remains closed until further notice for public safety reasons.

State, federal and City and County officials continue to urge people to use extreme caution at Kaimana Beach as a monk seal mother and her growing pup become more active both on the beach and in the near shore waters.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) is seeking new projects for its Hawaiʻi Forest Legacy Program that will protect important working forest lands from the threat of conversion to non-forest uses. The Forest Legacy Program, administrated through DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife, is accepting applications for conservation acquisition assistance through the program.