(HONOLULU) -In an effort to avoid confusion and to mirror City and County of Honolulu emergency orders, DLNR is allowing larger groups of people in State Parks that are currently open, on State beaches, and on State trails beginning on Thursday, Sept. 24th. As with the city rules, groups on State lands are limited to five people or less and both the State and the County encourage continued use of safe practices.
(Līhu‘e) - The most recent helicopter surveys conducted by the Kauaʻi Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death Rapid Response Team resulted in detections of the virulent fungal pathogen known as Ceratocystis lukuohia in two new areas on Kauaʻi, the upper Hanalei valley and along the north side of Powerline Trail.
(HONOLULU) – A wildland fire near Maunawili Ditch Trail on O‘ahu is the focus of a firefighting response from the O‘ahu Branch of the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife DOFAW. As of 2:00 p.m. this fire covered one acre. DOFAW dispatched three fire engines along with a crew of 15 wildland firefighters to control it. While county fire departments respond to fires in residential areas, DOFAW has primary wildfire response.
(Kihei, Maui) – Shark warning signs are being removed from beaches stretching from Kalama Beach Park to the Kihei boat ramp. This morning a Kihei woman reported what she believed may have been a shark bite. She was taken to the hospital, where an evaluation of her wound, by experts from the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR), determined it was most likely not caused by a shark. What caused her injury is unknown.
(Kihei, Maui) – A 61-year-old woman, swimming 120-yards off Charlie Young beach in Kihei encountered what she believes was a shark at around 11:00 this morning. She said she did not see a shark but just felt a bite. She was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. It is not known at this time where the woman is from.
(Honolulu) – To mirror the County of Hawaiʻiʻs latest Emergency Order closing all county beach parks, the DLNR Division of State Parks is also continuing the closures of all Big Island coastal and beach park areas that has been effective since Friday, September 4 continuing through September 30. This effort is aimed at preventing large unauthorized gatherings and suppressing the increasing spread of COVID-19. At all affected parks, gates will remain locked and parking lots will be closed.
(Honolulu) – With the popular Ahu O Laka sandbar inKāne'ohe Bay currently closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, recreational boaters have moved away from anchoring at the sand bar.
(Honolulu) – Seven Honolulu men face multiple charges after officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources (DOCARE) received a call reporting illegal fishing in the Waikīkī Marine Life Conservation District (MLCD) and the adjoining Waikīkī Fisheries Management Area (FMA).
(HONOLULU) – Calling the illegal actions “outrageous,” DLNR Chair Suzanne Case praised the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) arrest yesterday of a West Hawai‘i aquarium fish collector. 57-year-old Steve Howard of Kailua-Kona, a well-known aquarium fisher, was arrested after a bizarre series of events that included a search and rescue operation. Howard was observed launching his boat at DLNR’s Honokohau Small Boat Harbor. When DOCARE officers were alerted, they mobilized, and followed the boat to the Kailua-Kona pier, where Howard picked up two women.
(LĪHU‘E) – A wildland fire in Waimea Canyon on Kaua‘i is the focus of a joint response from the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) and the Kaua‘i Fire Department. As of 1:00 p.m. today, the fire covered one acre near mile marker 11 on Highway 550. The DOFAW Kaua’i Branch dispatched two fire engines along with a crew of ten wildland firefighters to assist with the effort. This fire is in a co-response zone that is shared state and countyresponsibility. DOFAW as the primary responder for wildland fires.