News Releases

The Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife would like to thank all wildlife artists that submitted amazing art entries for the 2017-18 Hawaii Wildlife Conservation and Game Bird Stamp Art Contest. A committee reviewed all submissions and two winners were chosen last month.

An oft-spotted, fifteen-year-old endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal, known as R4DP was found dead on a beach near ʻEleʻele on February 23, 2017. Officers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) and from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) are investigating the female seal’s death as suspicious, as it had injuries “inconsistent with any natural cause of death associated with wild monk seals.”

Nearly every time Larry Pacheco of the DLNR Division of State Parks arrives at one of the locked gates leading into ‘Iao Valley, he ends up informing people who are walking up the road…ignoring multiple signs that indicate both ‘Iao Valley State Monument and Maui County’s Kepaniwai Park are closed.

Botanists surveying a remote area on Maui found something they didn’t expect – a species of fern previously unknown to science. Named after the mountain on which it is found, Athyrium haleakalae was recently announced and described in a paper by Kenneth Wood and Warren Wagner of the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) and the Smithsonian Institution, respectively

Reintroduction efforts for the ʻAlalā, the native Hawaiian crow, began in December of last year with the release of five ʻAlalā into a Hawai‘i Island State Natural Area Reserve. Sadly, three birds did not survive, and the remaining two were brought back into captivity.

The owner of a 35-foot cabin motorboat that went aground at Kihei beach Wednesday afternoon during strong winds and waves, is attempting to remove his boat. The "Hanamana", owned by William Domen, Jr. broke off its offshore mooring in the area of South Kihei Road. and Uwapo Road. It’s resting on the sandy shoreline fronting the area of Kihei Canoe Club.

HONOLULU — Since 1979, more than 68,000 students have received their certifications through the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Hunter Education Program. Annually, more than 2,000 students register and attend Hunter Education classes across the state. This experience is now about to get just a little easier for the public.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 to receive testimony on the conservation district use application (CDUA) OA-3784 for the Royal Hawaiian Groin Improvement Project at Waikiki beach. The hearing will start at 6 p.m. at the Waikiki Community Center auditorium, at 310 Paoakalani Ave. in Waikiki.

It’s another spectacular sunset near Spouting Horn on Kauai’s south side. As people gather at the shoreline to catch a glimpse of the fabled green flash, their eyes turn inland for the green flash in the sky. This is the nightly invasion of rose-ringed parakeets. Their highly visible presence on the Garden Island provides a current and dramatic example of how a seemingly innocuous species, left unchecked and over time, can become a public health hazard, a real nuisance, and have serious impacts on the economy and the environment.

After being flown to the Hawai‘i Wildlife Center at Kapa‘au last week, a young pueo (Hawaiian short-eared owl), was put to sleep. The decision was made by wildlife biologists from the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife and was made to prevent the birds continuing suffering.