(HONOLULU) – The upcoming holiday weekend could see the largest post-pandemic number of locals and visitors using state parks, trails, and taking to the water. Numerous DLNR divisions, responsible for management of public facilities and locales, are gearing up for big crowds in popular parks and on heavily used trails and recreating on beaches and in the ocean.
Natural Area Reserves
(Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a Forest Reserve, Hawai‘i Island) – The first scenes for hikers intending to ascend the Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a cinder cone, do not exactly depict a pristine forest reserve. Remnants of former industrial uses of the property, scattered across the landscape near the beginning of the 3.2-mile-long trail, were the focus of a 2009 Environmental Site Assessment, conducted by the USDA Forest Service Enterprise Program.
(HONOLULU) – Kiwikiu (Maui parrotbill) is the most endangered native Hawaiian bird. The small yellow honeycreepers live only in high elevation forest on windward Haleakalā, Maui. With an estimated population of less than 150 individuals, it is at high risk of going extinct within a few years.
(Koke’e) – A DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) Koke’e Fuel Reduction project is scheduled to begin work on Monday, April 19th. This Kaua’i DOFAW project is expected to take approximately three months depending on weather conditions.
(HONOLULU) - Five proposed changes, including four additions totaling roughly 8,100 acres and one withdrawal of about 2.7 acres, are being considered for the State Forest Reserve System (FRS), which is managed by the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW). The FRS represents the state’s largest public forest lands that provide a variety of benefits including aesthetic benefits; watershed restoration; native, threatened, and endangered species habitat protection and management; cultural resources; and recreational and hunting opportunities, among others. DOFAW will hold a virtual hearing at 6:00pm on April 28, 2021, to receive testimony on the proposed changes affecting the FRS.
(Kula) – On the southern slopes of Haleakalā, an area once used for livestock grazing has been gradually turning back into native forest. Though the boundaries of the Kahikinui Forest Reserve has changed considerably since its establishment in 1928, the overarching goal of forest restoration and management has endured. Now, the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW), is seeking input on a draft management plan for the Kahikinui State Forest Reserve that will guide management priorities for this area over the next decade.
(HONOLULU) – An extension of the Ka‘ena Point Natural Area Reserve and the addition of Pia Valley in east O‘ahu, to the state’s Natural Area Reserves (NAR) System are on the table for input from people in March. The NAR System, a program of the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW), seeks to keep native ecosystems as intact as possible to preserve Hawaii’s natural heritage.
(HONOLULU) – Nearing the top of the popular Hawai‘iloa Ridge Trail in East O‘ahu look to your right and take in Pia Valley. This 300-acre parcel of rainforest in the southern Ko‘olau mountains will now be protected forever, thanks to a generous donation.
(Hilo) – The palila, an endangered, native Hawaiian forest bird, is receiving assistance next month from the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW). DOFAW will conduct trapping of mouflon/feral sheep hybrids, and staff hunting and/or aerial shooting from helicopters for feral goats, feral sheep, mouflon and mouflon/feral sheep hybrids within palila critical habitat in the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve (Unit A), Mauna Kea Ice Age Natural Area Reserve (Unit K), Palila Mitigation Lands, and the Kaʻohe Game Management Area (Unit G) on the island of Hawaiʻi.
(LIHU‘E)— To reduce the risk of fires in the Pu‘u Ka Pele Forest Reserve on Kaua‘i, the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife ( DOFAW) is proposing forest thinning and fire break maintenance. Community members are invited to provide input on the proposed efforts via a virtual public meeting. This meeting will be at 9:00am on December 1, 2020. In addition to gathering people’s input, this meeting is intended to address questions or concerns regarding this project.