HONOLULU -- Hawaii’s towns and landscapes are changing rapidly. The era of the sugar plantations is coming to a close. The once numerous crack seed, shave ice, and mom and pop stores on small town streets are giving way to big box stores, along with one-lane bridges that were crossed with patience and a “shaka” to other drivers. These old-time buildings, structures and places distinguish our unique Hawai‘i identity, and can provide glimpses into our past that can continue to influence the future landscape of Hawai‘i.

HONOLULU – Three O‘ahu residences have been added to the Hawai‘i Register of Historic Places by the Hawai‘i Historic Places Review Board. Compromised of experts including historians, architects, sociologists, cultural specialists, and archaeologists, the Hawai‘i Historic Places Review Board currently has 9 members. The following residences were entered onto the register:

In anticipation of the need for the Board of Land and Natural Resources to hold a contested case hearing on In Re Petitions Requesting a Contested Case Hearing Re Conservation District Use Permit (CDUP) for the Thirty Meter Telescope at the Mauna Kea Science Reserve, Kaohe Mauka, Hamakua District, Island of Hawaiʻi, TMK (3) 4-4-015:009, the Department of Land and Natural Resources now seeks qualified applicants to provide professional legal services as a hearing officer in this potential case which is pending a remand to the Board by the Third Circuit Court of the State.

(HONOLULU) – Combined law enforcement and clean-up operations at the world-renowned Kalalau Beach in the Napali Coast State Wilderness Park on Kauai over the past month, have resulted in dozens of citations, an arrest, and the airlifting of tons of accumulated rubbish from the area.

HONOLULU -- The Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) is seeking comments on a Draft Environmental Assessment (DEA) in connection with a proposed Habitat Conservation Plan and Incidental Take License (ITL) for game management at Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a Forest Reserve and Pu‘u Anahulu Game Management Area.

(LIHUE) – For the last few weeks a large excavator has been digging hole after hole on the steep slopes of state forest reserves in the Kokee area of Kauai. Some 3,000 acres of land were scorched during a series of wildfires there during the summer of 2012. The excavator is preparing the ground for the hand planting of 20,000 foot-tall koa seedlings.

More than 100 interested people attended an open house and community meeting on the Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park master planning process on Jan. 30, 2016. In this video, DLNR State Parks Administrator Curt Cottrell and DLNR First Deputy Kekoa Kaluhiwa discuss their vision for this important natural and cultural resource, for the Hawaii state parks system, and for the importance of community engagement in developing plans for the management and protection of Hawaii's natural resources.

Request for Proposal/Goods and Services for a Replacement Land Management Information System

(HILO) – Recent aerial surveys of 810,000 acres of Hawaii Island forests showed that a fungal infestation of ohia trees is much greater than earlier thought. Using a helicopter and specialized survey equipment, surveyors from a collaboration of state, county and federal agencies flew over 81,000 acres, January 11 - 15, 2016. Satellite imagery of ohia forests in 2014 resulted in an estimate of 15,000 acres infected by this newly identified disease. The latest survey, pending ground verification, estimates the infection has now spread to some 34,000 acres of the ohia forest on the Big Island.

LIHU‘E, KAUA‘I -- The latest step in the state’s ongoing efforts to restore the Pu‘u Ka Pele Forest Reserve on Kaua‘i is to protect the newly out-planted koa trees within the previously burned and logged area, by carrying out an animal control hunt within a designated portion of the forest reserve. This animal control will run for two months from Feb. 8, 2016 to April 8, 2016.