Department of Land and Natural Resources

HANAPEPE, KAUA‘I – To help battle the spread of avian malaria in the native forest birds of the Garden Island,  the Kauaʻi Forest Bird Recovery Project (KFBRP) is launching a crowdfunding campaign today. They are seeking to raise $50,000 to support field teams that monitor the birds, and seek out and eradicate local mosquito populations.

(HILO) – A week ago, University of Hawai‘i researcher Sarah-Jeanne Royer was photographed standing on an enormous tangle of derelict fishing rope embedded on the lava rock coastline of Kamilo Point on Hawai‘i island’s far south-east side. 

HONOLULU — The State Endangered Species Recovery Committee (ESRC) is now accepting applications for the Hawaiian cultural practitioner position on the Commission. Applications will be reviewed and the names of qualified individuals will be sent to the Governor, who will nominate one person for each vacant position. The term of the new appointee is four years, with a maximum of two terms. The appointment is subject to confirmation by the Senate.

(HONOLULU) – Three officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) and three lifeguards from the City and County of Honolulu Ocean Safety & Lifeguard Services recovered an enormous and extremely heavy ball of derelict fishing nets this afternoon.  It’s not known whether the nets are part of the two-mile-long marine debris field that was first reported by a fisherman last weekend between Moloka‘i and Oah‘u? DOCARE officers familiar with the area where the net was spotted, feel that it is. They say it’s unusual to finding nets of this magnitude off Waikiki.

(HONOLULU) – State and Federal agencies are tracking what is described as a very large marine debris field or net mass last spotted in the Ka Iwi Channel between Moloka‘i and O‘ahu, about 12 nautical miles south of O‘ahu. The marine debris was first reported by a fisherman last Saturday, who saw it 9.5 miles south of Koko Crater and 3.5 miles from penguin banks. The fisher described it as being two nautical miles long and containing massive amounts of nets, ropes, buoys, crates and drums.

LIHU‘E, KAUA‘I --  The Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife will hold an information meeting to gather public comments on a proposal to institute a trial archery (bow and arrow) hunting program for feral pigs in the Nounou Mountain Forest Reserve on Kaua‘i.

(HILO, HAWAI‘I) – You usually hear them before you see them.  There’s no mistaking the loud and often times synchronized cacophony of caws from eleven ‘Alalā released into a Hawai‘i Island Natural Area Reserve (NAR) last fall. These birds, seven young males and four young females, represent what conservationists hope is the beginning of a recovered population of the endangered Hawaiian crow on the island.  ‘Alalā have been extinct in the wild since 2002. Since the birds took flight from a remote forest aviary in September and October 2017, they’ve been under the daily, watchful eyes of a monitoring team from the Hawai‘i Endangered Conservation Program, a field program of the San Diego Zoo Global (SDZG).  In partnership with the Hawai‘i Dept. of Land & Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others, SDZG reared the ‘Alalā at its centers on the Big Island and on Maui.

(LIHU‘E, KAUA‘I) --   This winter, the Wailua Management Road (aka.Loop Road), which leads to Kaua‘i’s Blue Hole area, has experienced severe damage due to heavy rains and falling trees. The road was closed on November 26, 2017 to all public access (foot and vehicular travel) beyond the point popularly known as “Jurassic” gate, due to hazardous road conditions. 

(Honolulu) – All across Hawai‘i dialog about the impacts of climate change on our island state are ramping up.  The past year’s ‘King Tides’, along with the erosion caused by typical winter swells, are among the events that are helping to raise awareness about what is predicted to happen in the future as the planet faces warming.

HONOLULU -- The DLNR Division of State Parks today completed improvements to a section of the lower hiking trail at the Diamond Head State Monument summit trail.  The work was completed a week ahead of schedule. This completes a multi-phase rockfall mitigation and trail improvement work that began last year at the park.