HONOLULU – Gov. David Ige, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) and the U.S. Secretaries of Interior and Commerce have signed an updated Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) adding OHA as a co-trustee of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. It is the largest, contiguous, fully protected conservation area in the U.S. and encompasses 583,000 square miles of ocean waters, including ten islands and atolls in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

(Lihue, Kaua‘i) – Two of three baby Nene photographed grazing in lush grass alongside the Hanalei River last month were killed by cars as they attempted to cross a highway. Video shot by DLNR and distributed to media across the state on Dec. 28, 2016, showed a family of Nene; mother, father and their three goslings resting and eating on the stream’s bank underneath the Hanalei Bridge. The deaths of the two goslings happened last week.

KAILUA-KONA, HAWAI‘I -- A capital improvement project for the Honokohau Small Boat Harbor mauka boat ramp is scheduled to begin on January 30, 2017, that will include the removal of both concrete loading docks and installation of new loading docks with new plastic lumber fendering and cleats. The project has been contracted to Isemoto Contracting and will cost $562,700.

(Honolulu) -The Department of Land and Natural Resources will hold an informational meeting on sea level rise vulnerability and adaptation on Kaua‘i, Monday, January 09, 2017. This meeting is one of a series of public informational meetings being held state wide in an effort to educate people about the impacts of sea level rise and to gather comments and input about key issues and concerns regarding preparedness and adaptation. The first meeting was held on Oahu last June.

(Kaiwi State Scenic Shoreline, O‘ahu) – Beginning nearly two hours before the first sunrise of the New Year, hundreds of hikers of all ages, made the one-mile ascent to the Makapu‘u Lookout in the Kaiwi State Scenic Shoreline, a unit of the DLNR Division of State Parks.