Gov News

(HONOLULU) – Next Monday (Jan. 9) is Climate Action Day in Hawai‘I and will mark the beginning of Hawai‘i Climate Week. The Hawai‘i Climate Change Mitigation and Adaption Commission (Commission) is organizing the State Climate Conference on this day to explore the challenges and solutions of address climate change through discussions on statewide actions.

(HAWAI‘I COUNTY, Hawai‘i –) Flooding is one of the major natural disasters in the United States.  The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) Insurance Division, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and Hawai‘i County invite property owners and renters to an important educational meeting, in Hilo and in Kona, on the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and common misconceptions regarding various insurance coverages.

BLNR Chair Suzanne Case issued the following statement today about protesters at Friday’s Land Board meeting calling for Board Member Sam Gon’s resignation.

In the early 1800’s Queen Ka‘ahumanu visited Hanauma Bay, considered one of O‘ahu’s crown jewels over the decades. In modern times more than one million people each year, from all over the world, visit the bay to take in its vast marine and coral life. They snorkel, dive, spend time tanning on the beach, and otherwise enjoy the bay’s natural beauty. Before going into the water, they are educated about the living reef environment and safety practices to help ensure their continued enjoyment of the bay. The State, through the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) and the Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands (OCCL); the City and County of Honolulu, through the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), and Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services; the University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant Program, and the non-profit Friends of Hanauma Bay (the Friends) work together to protect the bay’s unique underwater resources and best ensure the health of fish, corals, marine mammals, and visitors of the bay.

The mediated settlement, approved by the Hawai‘i State Water Commission in April, to immediately restore continuous flows in West Kaua‘i’s Waimea River, is the subject of a video mini-documentary produced by the DLNR.

Want to better understand the Hā‘ena Community-Based Subsistence Fishery Area (CBSFA) and rules, and how Department of Land and Natural Resources and Hui Maka‘āinana o Makana are working towards co-management? Come down and join us for a fun-filled afternoon on Sunday, October 22 from 12 to 3 p.m. at Camp Naue YMCA, 7420 Kūhiō Highway in Hā‘ena.

Five young ‘alalā, two females and three males, were released into Pu‘u Maka‘ala Natural Area Reserve (NAR) on the Island of Hawai‘i on Wednesday, October 11th. This second group of birds joins a previous group that had been released into the forest at the end of September. These eleven birds represent what conservationists hope will be the beginning of a recovered population of the endangered crow species on the island.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), in partnership with the State Office of Planning, will be holding the first-ever Hawai‘i Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission (Climate Commission) meeting on October 11.

The Hawai‘i State Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) will hear oral arguments in the Contested Case Hearing for the Conservation District Use Application (CDUA) for the Thirty Meter Telescope at the Mauna Kea Science Reserve, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017 beginning at 9:00 a.m. in the Crown Room of the Grand Naniloa Hotel in Hilo. This is not a public hearing and members of the public will not be allowed to testify, argue, or otherwise present to the BLNR.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) has long issued annual commercial and recreational aquarium fish permits, pursuant to HRS §188-31 and administrative rules, authorizing the use of fine meshed traps or nets to take aquatic life for aquarium purposes. On Wednesday, the Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruled that aquarium collection using fine meshed traps or nets is subject to the environmental review procedures provided in the Hawai‘i Environmental Policy Act (HEPA). The issue has been remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings.