KAILUA-KONA, HAWAI‘I – A public information meeting planned this weekend to discuss new, proposed rules for the Makako Bay and Keauhou manta ray viewing sites has been rescheduled due to the anticipated arrival of Hurricane Lester. The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), Boating and Ocean Recreation Division (DOBOR) will now hold the meeting on Saturday, September 24, 2016 from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Palamanui Campus of Windward Community College, 73-4255 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Room B-126, in Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i.

DLNR & YOU – World Conservation Congress Opening Ceremony – Governor David Ige (click on image to watch video)

HONOLULU -- Due to the uncertainty over the track of approaching Hurricane Lester, all Hawai‘i island, Maui, and O‘ahu State Park camping and lodging areas will be closed to overnight use beginning Friday, September 2 and will remain closed -- at minimum through Monday, September 5 -- until conditions warrant allowing these activities.

Honolulu – With Tropical Storm Madeline currently impacting Hawai‘i County and Hurricane Lester entering Hawaiian waters over the next several days, the IUCN World Conservation Congress Hawai‘i 2016 and all of its sessions and programs are continuing as scheduled. The Congress begins tomorrow with opening ceremonies at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center, and then continues at the Hawai'i Convention Center until Sept. 10, 2016.

(Honolulu) -- The Department of Land and Natural Resources and the IUCN’s Oceania Regional Office (ORO) are hosting the Hawaii-Pacific Pavilion during the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2016, which will take place at the Hawai‘i Convention Center from September 2-9.

HONOLULU -- The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) has closed all state forest and park areas on the islands of Hawaii with the arrival of Hurricane Madelines Madeline and Lester.

(Honolulu) – Loko i‘a, or traditional Hawaiian fishponds, are unique aquaculture systems that existed throughout ancient Hawai‘i. Although a 1990 statewide survey identified 488 loko i‘a sites, many were in degraded condition, and either completely beyond repair or unrecognizable.

HONOLULU -- The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) is closing state forest and park areas on the islands of Hawaii and Maui, in anticipation of the effects of Hurricane Madeline.

(HONOLULU) - The State of Hawaiʻi applauded the announcement by the U.S. Department of Interior and Senator Brian Schatz of $497,000 in federal funding to help combat Rapid ‘Ōhiʻa Death, the fungal disease that is killing tens of thousands of acres of native forest on Hawaiʻi Island.

(Honolulu) - The popularity of self-guided or commercial tours that offer marine-life encounters with turtles, dolphins, whales, manta rays, and even sharks, brings large numbers of Hawai‘i visitors and residents into close proximity with wild creatures. Many people aren’t aware of how their behaviors could hurt them or wild animals, or impact the creatures habitats.