Department of Land and Natural Resources

(Honolulu) – A helicopter under contract to the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) crashed this morning in a gully in Sacred Falls State Park on O‘ahu. One passenger has a bruised arm but otherwise the pilot and the other two passengers were not hurt. All of them hiked out of the area to meet emergency responders. 

(Lihue, Kaua‘i) – During the four-day-long annual meeting of the Pacific Seabird Group this week, ten researchers detailed the results of programs aimed at reducing the deaths of endangered and threatened native Hawaiian seabirds. They also explained how introduced predators, like cats and rats, continue to decimate seabird populations around the globe.

(Kula)–An opening hearing will be held to receive testimony on the December 8, 2018 submittal of the Auwahi Wind Farm draft Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) amendment. Auwahi Wind Energy, LLC operates eight 3-megawatt wind turbines augmented by an 11-megawatt battery storage system located on ‘Ulupalakua Ranch, on the eastern side of the island of Maui. The project was constructed in 2012 and has been in operation since that time.

(Kīlauea, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi) -- In 2018, conservation partners again provided a new home, safe from invasive predators, for some of Hawaiʻi’s most imperiled seabirds. A total of 39 chicks, including 20 endangered uaʻu (Hawaiian Petrel) and 19 threatened ʻaʻo (Newell’s Shearwater), were moved from colonies in the mountains to the translocation site, called Nihokū, at Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge. In this location, they are protected by a predator-proof fence surrounding the Nihokū restoration site.

(Honolulu) – During a ceremony today, six experienced law enforcement officers became the first graduates of the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) Academy.  Over the course of six weeks the officers, all of whom come from municipal, state or federal police agencies, received immersive training in conservation enforcement. 

(Honolulu) – Mosquitos and rats can be pests for people, but they’re also very harmful to our endangered native birds. The Kauai Forest Bird Recovery Project (KFBRP) is starting an end-of-the-year fundraising and outreach campaign to help the native birds on the island recover their population.