News Releases

(HONOLULU) – If you go back and listen to the sound of a small wildfire just last week, you hear how tinder dry the forest is. Snap, crackle, pop. If you listen to radio and television announcements, we’re all being asked to conserve water. The link between drought conditions and wildfire in Hawai‘i is already in full play and conditions this summer are expected to worsen.

(Ma‘alaea) – The first of six mobile biodiesel fueling stations in Hawai‘i opened this morning at Ma‘alaea Small Boat Harbor on Maui. Pacific Biodiesel installed and will operate the off-grid fueling station at the busy harbor.

(Hau‘ula, O‘ahu) – For more than two decades, Sacred Falls State Park has been closed, as the result of a 1999 rockfall that injured scores of people and killed eight. Yet, largely fueled by social and travel media postings, people regularly trespass into the area.

(HONOLULU) – A small wildfire in the Kuaokalā Forest Reserve likely started from an unattended campfire. This morning a small team of firefighters from the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) continue work to put out the fire, estimated to be one-two acres in size.

(HONOLULU) – The State Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) has approved a $30,000 fine for the owner of a boat who allowed the boat’s co-owner, her husband, and their child to live on the boat, moored in the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor, without required permitting.

(HONOLULU) – The earnest efforts by hundreds of school children, their teachers, state lawmakers, and conservationists resulted in Gov. Ige signing SB2059 into law today, during a ceremony at Washington Place.

(Waialea Bay Marine Life Conservation District) – Conditions to see coral spawning on Tuesday, were near perfect at this Hawai‘i Island, bay. Aquatic biologist Chris Teague, with the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR), begins watching for spawning just after dawn. 

(Pololū Valley, Hawai‘i Island) – “Everyone is recognizing the overuse of Pololū and the community wanting to do something about it,” begins Jackson Bauer.

(HONOLULU) – Significant federal dollars are headed to Hawai‘i to help address the extinction crisis facing at least four species of native Hawaiian birds. An unprecedented $14 million for Hawai‘i ecosystem restoration is included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, described as a major investment in the conservation and stewardship of America’s public lands.

(HONOLULU) – The Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) has approved an extension, requested by the owners of the Wahiawa Dam on O‘ahu, to design and implement improvements to the dam’s spillway and embankment structure.