(Honolulu) – In an effort to protect public safety and provide security and safety for the movement of heavy construction equipment associated with the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on Hawai‘i Island’s Mauna Kea, DLNR Chair Suzanne Case has ordered the temporary closure for hunting of hunting units A, K, and G in the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve and Natural Area Reserve for hunting, effective July 15, 2019.
Natural Area Reserves
(Kailua-Kona) – In order to support a growing demand for recreational space in the North Kona District, the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) is conducting a civic use study to gauge community interest in recreational and subsistence uses, such as hiking, hunting, and gathering other forest resource in Honua‘ula Forest Reserve. As part of the study, DOFAW has scheduled an open meeting to present and receive input on the Kailua-Kona community’s preferences and potential management strategies to support anticipated future increase in activity.
(Hilo) – Lands in the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve are proposed to be withdrawn and set aside to the County of Hawaiʻi and the Department of Transportation. A two-point-nine acre and 32.572 acre parcel are being proposed for withdrawal from the State Forest Reserve System. The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) is inviting community comments on the two proposed withdrawals:
(Pu‘u Maka‘ala Natural Area Reserve) – Towering above the highest trees in this Hawai‘i Island Natural Area Reserve, a 105-foot-high meteorological tower, with millions of dollars of high-tech sensing equipment attached to it, is the final component of the National Ecological Observatory Network or NEON.
(Pu‘u Maka‘ala Natural Area Reserve, Hawai‘i) – Two ‘Alalā in the Pu‘u Maka‘ala Natural Area Reserve have reached a new milestone, one not seen in the forests of Hawaiʻi for almost 20 years. They have built a nest. In early April, team members observed two birds, Mana'olana and Manaiakalani beginning to build a nest platform structure near their 2017 release site.
(Honolulu) – Kohala lands within the Kula Iwi (homeland) of Kamehameha the Great on Hawai‘i island; stunningly beautiful coastal pasture in Hāna, Maui; restored access to a Hawaiian fishpond on Kaua‘i’s north shore; and two tracts of high-quality O‘ahu forest can now be protected for public benefit with the help of grant funding from the State Legacy Land Conservation Program.
(Honolulu)-The State of Hawai'i today took a significant step towards launching its first-ever forest carbon sequestration program by selecting a standard to ensure a reliable and transparent process and to guarantee the environmental integrity of the credits resulting from it. The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) awarded the contracts to Verra, one of 4 standard-setting firms that submitted proposals.
(Honolulu) – A helicopter under contract to the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) crashed this morning in a gully in Sacred Falls State Park on O‘ahu. One passenger has a bruised arm but otherwise the pilot and the other two passengers were not hurt. All of them hiked out of the area to meet emergency responders.
(Makawao) –Nearly 30 trees will be removed along portions of Olinda and Pi'iho'lo Roads near the Waihou Spring Forest Reserve to improve safety in and around the area.
(Waiʻanae) – More than 75 Enterprise employees today joined the Arbor Day Foundation, the Department of Land and Natural Resources Kaululani Urban and Community Forestry Program, and the Waiʻanae Mountains Watershed Partnership (WMWP) to plant more than 750 trees at the Waiʻanae Kai State Forest Reserve in Waiʻanae. The event is part of a program – called the Enterprise Urban Tree Initiative – which invests in cities, through tree distribution and neighborhood planting events, which have been devastated by natural disasters.