Department of Land and Natural Resources

(Makawao) - Approximately a dozen pine and eucalyptus trees as tall as 70-feet in the Makawao State Forest Reserve on Maui will be assessed and flagged for removal from February 16-29, 2020. The trees surround the upper parking lot of the Kahakapao Recreation Area (KRA).

(Honolulu) – High school students across Hawai‘i are encouraged to write about a wahi pana, (a pulsing place) special to them, in preparation for the 50th anniversary of International Earth Day on April 22, 2020. The contest is presented by the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW).

 (Hilo) – Staff with the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Natural Area Reserve (NAR) System are excited about a recent find. In late October they discovered an endangered Hawaiian Petrel (‘ua‘u) burrow and a baby chick inside in the Pu‘u O Umi NAR on Kohala Mountain on Hawai‘i Island. This provides the first documentation of a new ‘ua‘u colony endemic to the Kohala district.

(Honolulu) – Last year, the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) acquired more than 2,800 acres of forest land and former agricultural lands in the Helemano area of Central Oʻahu.  This area is now in the process of being placed in the State’s Forest Reserve System and DOFAW has begun developing a plan for the Helemano Wilderness Area with the assistance of local planning firm Planning Solutions, Inc. (PSI). 

(Nakula Natural Area Reserve, Maui) – In late October, thirteen critically endangered kiwikiu (Maui Parrotbill), were brought to the leeward slope of Haleakalā in the state’s Nakula Natural Area Reserve (NAR). Over the past decade more than a quarter million native trees were planted in this NAR and the adjacent Kahikinui Forest Reserve to repair decades of habitat destruction caused by overgrazing by hooved animals like goats, cows, and sheep.

(Hanawi Natural Area Reserve, Maui) – Five male and two female kiwikiu (Maui Parrotbill; Pseudonestor xanthophrys) have now been moved from the Hanawi Natural Area Reserve (NAR) on the windward slopes of Haleakalā, to the Nakula NAR on the leeward slope of Maui’s highest mountain. The goal is to establish a second “insurance” population that will significantly lower the risks of extinction.

Haleakalā, Maui; September 30, 2019) In a bold action aimed at saving the endangered Kiwikiu (Maui Parrotbill, or Pseudonestor xanthophrys), in October four conservation partners will begin translocating both captive-bred and wild birds to a restored forest with the goal of creating a second, “insurance” population for this species. The Kiwikiu has declined by over 50 percent in recent years, and fewer than 312 birds remain in the wild.

This September, seven additional ʻAlalā were released into the Puʻu Makaʻala Natural Area Reserve (NAR) on the windward slopes of Mauna Loa.

 (Honolulu) – The DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) is investigating the possible destruction of four, endangered Hawaiian ʻānunu vines in the Mauna Loa Forest Reserve on the backside of Pu‘u Huluhulu.  This is where thousands of protesters have been illegally blocking Mauna Kea Access Road since mid-July. In addition to the alleged cutting of these vines, DOCARE officers found evidence that other rare plants have been trampled, either inadvertently or intentionally.

(Honolulu) – State hunting units A, K, and G, in the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve and Natural Area Reserve, closed since July 15th will reopen today. The units were closed to protect public safety and provide security for the safe movement of heavy construction equipment associated with the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT).