Forestry & Wildlife

(Kona, Hawai‘i) – The people leading research and management of the fungal disease known as Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death revealed their latest scientific findings and management tools to interested people at a community forum at the West Hawai‘i Civic Center on Saturday.

(Honolulu) – Around Valentine’s Day, vandals carved a heart-shape into a wall at Kaniakapūpū, King Kamehamea III’s summer palace. Three-years ago vandals carved a series of crosses into another wall on the opposite side of the ruin’s entrance.

(Honolulu) – Today the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) approved a request from the DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) to temporarily close the Pua Loke Arboretum in Lihue “to make state and county facilities enhancements.” DOFAW plans to use a portion of the arboretum, just east of the Kukui Grove Shopping Mall, to expand its base of operations. DLNR and Kaua‘i County are in discussion about the county’s potential use of some of the property.

(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.

(Līhu‘e) - As part of the on-going response to the detection of Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death (ROD) on Kaua‘i, DLNR will soon begin installing two types of signs and numerous boot-brush stations around the island. In areas where ROD has killed ‘ōhi‘a, signs will be installed with a cautionary message, “Stop: ROD (Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death) Alert. You are entering an area where ROD has been detected.”

(Honolulu) - As an island state, Hawai‘i is uniquely impacted by the threat of invasive species. Our endemic species and distinctive ecosystems evolved over millions of years in isolation from the rest of the world’s biota, creating a delicate balance that continues to be at risk from the arrival of non-native plants, animals, and fungi.

(Honolulu) –The Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife would like to thank all the wildlife artists who submitted art entries for the 2019-20 Hawai’i Wildlife Conservation and Game Bird Stamp Art Contest. A committee reviewed all submissions and two winners were chosen.

(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.

(Lana’i City)–Applications for the 2019 Lana’i mouflon sheep hunting season, together with instruction sheets, will be available at all Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) Offices Statewide beginning Monday, March 18, 2019.

(Lihue, Kaua‘i) – During the four-day-long annual meeting of the Pacific Seabird Group this week, ten researchers detailed the results of programs aimed at reducing the deaths of endangered and threatened native Hawaiian seabirds. They also explained how introduced predators, like cats and rats, continue to decimate seabird populations around the globe.