(KAILUA-KONA) — Several West Hawai'i state parks will experience early closures on Independence Day. The DLNR Division of State Parks will close the following parks at 5:00 pm on Sunday, July 4:
State Parks
(LĪHU‘E) — The annual plum harvest begins Saturday, July 3 at Kōke‘e State Park on Kaua‘i. Harvesting permits are free and available at the park’s headquarters. These permits must be completed and returned to the headquarters’ drop-box after harvesting. Plum picking is permitted daily between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. in designated areas.
(HONOLULU) – Twenty years in the making, the Hāʻena communities’ efforts to fully participate in the protection and management of Hāʻena State Park took another evolutionary step today. The Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) approved a one-year revocable permit (RP) for the non-profit Hui Maka’āinana o Makana to oversee and manage a Park reservation system, including collecting both parking and entry fees as well as an integrated shuttle system that will reduce the number of cars that enter the Park each day. The hui will also manage the cultural landscape of the park.
(Kailua-Kona) - “It is very sad to see this damage,” DLNR Division of State Parks (DSP) Archeologist, Tracy Tam Sing said after seeing a historic door and window at Hulihe‘e Palace vandalized last month. On June 1, 27-year-old Charleigh Flournoy of Kailua-Kona, allegedly broke into the historic palace by shattering a lanai window located on the lower makai side.
(Hāpuna Beach State Recreation Area, Hawai‘i Island) – The designation of Hāpuna Beach as the top-rated beach in the U.S., by Stephen Leatherman (aka Dr. Beach), highlights the continuing paradox of protecting the features that make it #1 while sharing it with ever-increasing throngs of visitors. This was Dr. Beach’s 30th annual ranking of best beaches.
(HONOLULU) – The upcoming holiday weekend could see the largest post-pandemic number of locals and visitors using state parks, trails, and taking to the water. Numerous DLNR divisions, responsible for management of public facilities and locales, are gearing up for big crowds in popular parks and on heavily used trails and recreating on beaches and in the ocean.
(KAILUA-KONA) – Two, half-day closures on May 28 and 29 at Waialea Bay Marine Life Conservation District (MLCD), will allow corals to spawn and produce new keiki. The beach at Waialea is known locally as Beach 69 and the 35-acre bay is one of eleven MLCDs in Hawai‘i, which enjoy the highest level of protection for their invaluable marine resources.
(HONOLULU) – Friday evening, Historic Hawai‘i Foundation(HHF) presented its 47th Annual Preservation Honor Awards during a virtual ceremony. Two programs/projects of the DLNR Division of State Parks and one DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) project were recognized.
(HONOLULU) – Officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) regularly patrol Sacred Falls State Park, though each Mother’s Day for the last 22-years, their efforts take on extra importance and meaning.
(HONOLULU) – Entrance gates to the parking areas at the Keawa‘ula sections of Ka‘ena Point State Park on O‘ahu reopen this weekend, after being closed for more than a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the result of state and county emergency orders/rules aimed at limiting group sizes and ensuring social distancing.