(Līhu‘e) - Recent helicopter surveys prompted foresters with the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) to sample 10 dead ‘ōhi‘a in two locations within the Līhu‘e-Kōloa Forest Reserve. Six trees tested positive for Ceratocystis lukuohia, the more virulent of the two fungal pathogens causing Rapid ʻŌhi‘a Death, the disease killing ‘ōhi‘a across the state.

(HONOLULU) – Exploring Hawai‘i's diverse forest industry and connecting to any of the hundreds of businesses passionately involved with wood is now just a click away.  The Hawai‘i Wood Utilization Team (HWUT) is launching the Hawai‘i Wood Products Directory. It’s an online search engine designed to highlight and connect the state’s wood industry while making it accessible and transparent to interested consumers.

HONOLULU – Gov. David Ige has reappointed Michael G. Buck to serve as a member of the Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM). Buck’s appointment is effective immediately, and, if approved by the Senate, will end on June 30, 2023. Buck has served on the commission since 2014.

(Honolulu)– Ohana Military Communities and Mililani Town were both named as 2018 Tree City USA by the State of Hawai‘i and the Arbor Day Foundation in honor of their commitment to effective urban forest management. These communities achieved Tree City USA status by assembling a tree board for their community, implementing a tree-care ordinance, maintaining an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita, and by organizing an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.

(Hilo) - Since last year’s ʻŌhiʻa Love Fest at the Imiloa Astronomy Center, the less virulent of two strains of the fungal disease known as Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death, was detected in single trees on O‘ahu and Maui. The disease has now been detected on Kaua‘i, Maui, O‘ahu and on Hawai‘i Island.  Ground zero continues to be the Big Island, where both strains of Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death have killed hundreds of thousands of trees. This is the reason the ʻŌhiʻa Love Fest was conceived three years ago.

(Honolulu) - Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coral Reef Watch program, indicates Hawai‘i’s coral reefs are entering a major bleaching event within the next two months, if not sooner.

A one-year pilot project using canine teams to non-lethally haze Nēnē away from the Līhu`e Airport and Hōkūala Timbers Resort area was introduced at a news conference in Lihue on Tuesday. The new canine teams are part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Service’s Hawai’i program and a collaboration partnership with the resort, Department of Land and Natural Resources as well as the Department of Transportation’s Airports Division.

(Waimea)-The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and Hawaii Island Senator Lorraine Inouye are jointly hosting an informational meeting to provide an update on the North Kohala Agricultural Water Study. The meeting will take place from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M. on Friday, August 30, 2019 at the Kohala Village Hub, located at 55-514 Hawi Road, in Hāwī, North Kohala, Hawaii.

(Lihue) – The population of Pacific Rats on tiny Lehua Island, off Kaua‘i’s west coast remains extremely low, two years after three applications of a rodenticide to clear them out of the State Seabird Sanctuary.

(Honolulu) – If you’ve sold or bought property or if you work in the real estate or title business, you’re familiar with the huge volume of legal documents required for property transactions. The Bureau of Conveyances has just awarded a $1.3 million-dollar contract to West Central Indexing to implement a highly specialized Land Records Management System to increase accuracy and improve efficiencies in recording these documents.