(Molokai) – Scattered across an expansive coastline of valleys, sea cliffs, boulders, and beaches, is a problem that affects everyone. “It doesn’t matter the name you give it, marine debris, ocean litter, coastal trash, or where it came from,” says James Espaniola of the Department of Land and Natural Resources. “The best thing to do is to get busy and do something about it.” That is exactly what The Nature Conservancy Molokai (TNC-Molokai), Kalaupapa National Historical Park (KNHP) and the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife’s (DOFAW) Natural Area Reserves System decided to do.
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(Honolulu) – The deep, beautiful orange and black hue of Hawai’i’s official state insect is well known by visitors to native forests, and cultural practitioners. It is considered a critical pollinator for numerous native plants. The Kamehameha butterfly, like so many insects, plants, and animals in Hawai’i, is being crowded out of its traditional habitat by ever-encroaching human presence, the introduction of invasive predator species, and global climate change. Although the butterfly is historically known from all the main Hawaiian Islands (Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lanaʻi, Maui, and Hawai’i), it is no longer found in some areas where it used to be common and it appears to be declining. The Pulelehua Project includes an effort to map current populations of the Kamehameha butterfly using observations submitted by the public, combined with surveys of remote areas by scientists. Pulelehua is the Hawaiian word for butterfly.
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(Honolulu) - The Hawaii Dept. of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) has established a special website for information on the upcoming International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress Hawaii 2016, being held in Honolulu, Sept. 1-10, 2016.
(HONOLULU) – On a warm July evening, visitors Lonnie Watson and Mark Louviere from the Ft. Worth, Texas metro area did what they normally do during their frequent visits to Hawaii. They wandered out to the coastline to watch the setting sun. On this particular day they spotted something that they say has humbled and blessed them. Watson explained, “For some reason there was a beam of light…just a beam…it landed right on one of them and for some reason I just turned my head. I said, look, it was just a stroke of luck.”
HONOLULU -- Hawai‘i Environmental Court Judge Randal Shintani has imposed a fine of $600 upon Ming Ren Yan, captain and owner of the shrimp fishing vessel Da Opailolo II. The case stems from fall 2015, when Da Opailolo II was illegally mooring in Wai‘anae Small Boat Harbor.
WAILUKU, MAUI – The Commission on Water Resource Management will be performing work on the waterfall at the Waihe‘e Ditch siphon where it crosses Wailuku River*. The Commission has asked Wailuku Water Company, LLC (WWC) to reduce the amount of water to Wailuku River, in order to perform the work and provide a safe work environment.
(HILO) – Hawaii’s forestry industry is being encouraged to provide input for a possible Request for Proposals (RFP) for harvest and reforestation endeavors at the Waiakea Timber Management Area (WTMA) on Hawaii Island. The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) published a Request for Information (RFI) on July 21, 2016. It asks for guiding information on the resources of interest, markets, products, harvest practices, processing, transportation, financing, etc.
(HILO) – The yellow, white-and-gray palila, a highly endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper, is one of the world’s most isolated birds. It lives only in a small patch of māmane forest on the western slope of Mauna Kea volcano on Hawai‘i Island. With the opening today of the new Palila Forest Discovery Trail, visitors will be now able to see palila and other native species that call this distinctive ecosystem home.
WAILUKU -- The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW), pursuant to Chapter 195D, Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes, will hold a public hearing to receive testimony on the Revised Draft Honuaʻula Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). The hearing will be held July 27, 2016 starting at 5:30 at the J. Walter Cameron Center, 95 Mahalani St, Wailuku, HI 96793.