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(Honolulu) Today, Hawai’i Governor David Ige, DLNR Chair Suzanne Case, Trust For Public Land State Director Lea Hong, and funding partners celebrated the acquisition of forest and former pineapple cultivated lands in Central O‘ahu that are being added to the State’s Forest Reserve System. Over 2,800 acres of mountain watershed and agricultural lands have been conserved for forestry, native reforestation, water source protection and recreational purposes.

(Honolulu) – Catastrophic wildfires, degraded watersheds, epidemics of invasive species and disease are but a few of the challenges facing forest managers across the country and in Hawai‘i. Add these threats to increasing demands for a variety of uses of public forest lands and managers have their hands full.

(Honolulu) – Building on the success of collector urchin out-plantings in Kāne‘ohe  Bay, the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) is now out-planting hatchery-raised native sea urchins in the Waikīkī Marine Life Conservation District (MLCD).  This week the DAR Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) team introduced the first of 100,000 native sea urchins (Tripneustes gratilla), to help control over 4 acres of invasive algae.

(Kawaihae) - On Thursday, February 20, 2020, the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) received information concerning the illegal harvesting of aquarium fish offshore of Kawaihae, Hawai’i County.  Acting on the information received, DOCARE Officers conducted a commercial fishing gear and catch inspection of the vessel “Masako” when it returned to the Kawaihae Small Boat Harbor.  Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) personnel also responded to assist with the inspection. 

 (Honolulu) –World-famous Waikīkī Beach is Hawaiʻi’s primary draw for tourists and the chief economic driver of Hawaiʻi’s economy.  It has a fascinating history. Beginning in the 1930’s and continuing into the 1960’s one of the world’s most iconic beaches was built with stone and sand imported from different parts of the state. 

 (Hilo) – 129 anglers, or all ages, registered for the week-long Wailoa River Tilapia Fishing Tournament, staged by the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) and other partners. It wrapped up yesterday with an awards and outreach event at the Wailoa Art Center.

(Honolulu) – Salvage teams from Parker Marine will be working today and possibly tomorrow in another attempt to free sailing vessel Prelude from shallow waters off Kaimana Beach on O‘ahu’s south shore. The boat grounded on a reef, about 300 feet off-shore, on Sunday.  An earlier attempt to free it wasn’t successful due to strong winds, the water depth, and the position of the boat on the reef.

(Makawao) - Approximately a dozen pine and eucalyptus trees as tall as 70-feet in the Makawao State Forest Reserve on Maui will be assessed and flagged for removal from February 16-29, 2020. The trees surround the upper parking lot of the Kahakapao Recreation Area (KRA).

(Honolulu) – People are being cautioned to stay out of the ocean between Keawakapu Beach and White Rock Beach in the Wailea district on Maui after several sharks were spotted this morning.

(Waialua, O‘ahu) – The moment a 250-pound Green Sea Turtle hit the shoreline, it was a beeline back to the ocean.  The turtle, marked as 1036, was released on a beach here yesterday, after having its right front flipper amputated almost three weeks ago.