Department of Land and Natural Resources

The Department of Land and Natural Resources, headed by an executive Board of Land and Natural Resources, is responsible for managing, administering, and exercising control over public lands, water resources, ocean waters, navigable streams, coastal areas (except commercial harbors), minerals, and all interests therein. The department’s jurisdiction encompasses nearly 1.3 million acres of State lands, beaches, and coastal waters as well as 750 miles of coastline (the fourth longest in the country). It includes state parks; historical sites; forests and forest reserves; aquatic life and its sanctuaries; public fishing areas; boating, ocean recreation, and coastal programs; wildlife and its sanctuaries; game management areas; public hunting areas; and natural area reserves.

 

Ryan Kanaka‘ole, Acting Chairperson

Kanaka‘ole was nominated by Gov. Josh Green to become DLNR First Deputy in January 2024. He previously served as a Deputy Attorney General with the Dept. of the Attorney General, most recently, as an attorney for the Hawai‘i Housing Finance and Development Corporation (HHFDC) and the Mauna Kea Stewardship Oversight Authority. From 2017-2023 he served as the deputy AG for the Department of Hawaiian Homelands (DHHL).

He also was involved in audits of DLNR, the University of Hawai‘i, the State Foundation of Culture and the Arts, the Department of Transportation, Department of the Attorney General, the Hawai‘i Energy Office, and the Department of Human Services (DHS).

He was appointed to the Public Land Trust Working Group due to his expertise on issues related to public land trust.

Kanaka‘ole is instrumental in continuing to build relationships with stakeholders, lawmakers, and communities and fostering DLNR’s conservation mission.

David Day, First Deputy

David Day has served as the Special Assistant to the Attorney General, where he has implemented numerous special projects from the ground up and acted as the department’s chief liaison to the Legislature. He represents the state as counsel in federal cases to protect the rights of immigrants in Hawaiʻi and the state against federal funding cuts to important state programs such as Solar For All, which provides solar systems for low-income households and disadvantaged communities and the Disaster Case Management Program, which provides case management services to survivors of the 2023 Maui wildfires.

With over 10 years of experience with the state, Day served as the hearings officer in the emergency contested case regarding the November 2021 release of tens of thousands of gallons of fuel from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in the matter of Department of Health v. U.S. Department of the Navy. Following a marathon 13-hour evidentiary hearing, Day’s December 2021 decision recommending the defueling of the facility was a crucial milestone toward the eventual closure of the facility.

Day also served as a deputy solicitor general and as a deputy attorney general representing the Board of Land and Natural Resources, the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Commission on Water Resource Management and the Land Use Commission.

 

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