(HONOLULU) – Today, the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) voted unanimously to fine two Hawai‘i island aquarium fishers $272,000 in civil fines for multiple violations of Hawai‘i Administrative Rules (HAR) related to an illegal aquarium fishing incident in Kona in 2020.  

 (HONOLULU) – Restoration of a widely-used boat ramp at Pohoiki Bay, in the Puna District of Hawai‘i island, blocked by new sand during the 2018 Puna lava eruption is estimated to take  between nine months and six or more years, and cost between $2.5 and $28 million, the State Land of Board and Natural Resources heard during a briefing today. 

(Hilo) – Archery hunting in the Pu‘uanahulu Game Management Area (GMA) begins  Sunday, March 7, 2021, and continues weekends and state holidays through Sunday, June 27, 2021. The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) also announce that the annual closure of the archery season in this GMA will be from July through February. 

(Hilo) - The opening of the 2021 spring bearded turkey hunting season begins on Monday, March 1, 2021. The spring season will run for 46 consecutive days through Thursday, April 15, 2021. The spring season will be for bearded turkeys only, in locations identified below. The season length, bag limits, and hunting areas are those established in Title 13, Chapter 122, “Rules Regulating Game Bird Hunting, Field Trials and Commercial Shooting Preserves.

(Lānaʻi City) – The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) announce that online applications for a combination 2021 Lānaʻi Axis Deer and Mouflon Sheep Season will be available to the public beginning Monday, February 22, 2021.  Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, hunters will be required to apply online for this hunt.

(Līhuʻe) – The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) and Division of State Parks (DSP) will be sponsoring a forest products auction for Kaua’i Native Hawaiian wood. All wood has been salvaged and harvested from DLNR lands on the island of Kaua’i over the last several years.

(HONOLULU) – As the spring season nears, it also marks the beginning of the annual Hawai’i Big Tree competition. The Big Tree competition is sponsored by the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) and nonprofit organization American Forests.

(Waimānalo) – Just after dawn, two officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) drove around the 16-acre former site of the Dragon Garden-Hawai‘i Bonsai Cultural Center in the back of the valley in Waimānalo. They entered numerous structures to make sure there were no squatters, in advance of an enormous clean-up of the property.

(Mānoa Cliffs Restoration Area, O‘ahu) – State researchers, working to re-establish the population of Hawai‘i’s official state insect, the Kamehameha butterfly (pulelehua), are being deterred by predators that are feeding on caterpillars before they have a chance to develop into butterflies.

(HONOLULU) – People don’t always think of butterflies as insects, though when they’re in the caterpillar stage, you’re reminded of which kingdom they’re from. Hawai‘i’s native butterfly, the Kamehameha butterfly, is a unique member of the insect kingdom and was named after a king. These are some of the things children of all ages will learn in the just-released educational book, “Butterfly for a King.”