Forestry & Wildlife

(Honolulu) – The 2020-2024 update to the original strategic response plan for the fight against Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death notes many challenges ahead. Released today, the plan calls for additional funding of $4 million, each year, over the next five years to continue progress toward understanding and addressing the fungal disease that has seriously impacted Hawai‘i’s native forests.

Lihu‘e – The killing of an endangered Hawaiian Petrel chick involved in a tracking project highlights the continued threat of feral cats to native wildlife on Kaua῾i. The chick had been satellite tagged with two others as part of a research project by the Kaua῾i Endangered Seabird Recovery Project (KESRP) to locate the petrel’s first oceanic wintering grounds.  When the tag continued to transmit from land over several weeks, researchers returned to the bird’s forest burrow in late November to find it had been killed by a cat. The kill was caught on a camera that was hidden to monitor the burrow.

(Honolulu) – The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) announces a shorter hunting season for the mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) to meet current state regulations and to comply with federal mandates, including the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The last day for hunting mourning dove is now January 12, 2020.

(Honolulu) – A recent land acquisition by federal, state and private-sector partners has ensured the protection of an entire watershed and nearly the entire ahupua‘a, from the Koʻolau summit to Waimea Bay. This native forest provides habitat for native plants and animals, many of them rare and endangered.

(Honolulu) – The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) has closed a portion of Public Hunting Unit H in the Pu‘u ka Pele Forest Reserve on the west side of Kaua‘i until further notice. The closed portion of the hunting unit is bounded by Makaha Ridge Rd., Kokee Rd., Nualolo Trail and the coastline. Please note that Miloli‘i Road and Nu’alolo trail within this area are both closed.  This is due to continuing search and recovery efforts associated with a helicopter crash in the Koke‘e area.

DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES News Release DAVID Y. IGE GOVERNOR SUZANNE D. CASE  CHAIRPERSON   For Immediate News Release: December 16, 2019     2,317 Acres At Waikapuna ...
Read More 12/16/19 – 2,317 ACRES AT WAIKAPUNA CONSERVED

(Honolulu) – High school students across Hawai‘i are encouraged to write about a wahi pana, (a pulsing place) special to them, in preparation for the 50th anniversary of International Earth Day on April 22, 2020. The contest is presented by the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW).

The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) announce the opening of the 2019-2020 Game Bird Hunting Season at the Kahua/Ponoholo Ranch Cooperative Game Management Area on Saturday, December 21, 2019. 

(Lihue) – Kaua’i Mayor Derek S. K. Kawakami, who has “two furry children at home,” like many other dog lovers was so moved by the recent rescue of a dog named Orange, he proclaimed today as, “Botanist to the Rescue Day.” All seven members of the county council signed a companion recognition certificate.

 (Honolulu)-Artists are welcome to submit entries to the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) in the annual art contest depicting game mammals and game birds for the 2020–2021 hunting stamp.