(HONOLULU) –Hawai‘i’s critical shortage of affordable dwellings will get a boost from a USDA Forest Service Wood Innovations grant. Nationwide the U.S. Forest Service is awarding almost $8 million in grants for projects in 20 states to expand and accelerate wood products and wood energy markets. The grants are intended to stimulate the removal of hazardous fuels from forests and reduce the risk of wildfires, promote overall forest health and reduce forest management costs.
Forestry & Wildlife Announcements
HILO - The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) will be conducting maintenance work on Muliwai trail and Waimanu campground between May 20-25. The campground and trail will be closed during this period.
(HONOLULU) – A team from the O‘ahu Invasive Species Committee (OISC) conducted part of a regularly planned aerial sketch mapping mission over the southern Ko‘olau Mountains today. Their mission was cut short due to bad weather but they hope to finish their work soon.
LIHU‘E, KAUA‘I -- Polihale State Park on Kaua‘i will reopen to the public on Tuesday May 15, following repairs to the heavily flood-damaged entry road. The initial repairs, consisting of filling and grading the most damaged section of the unpaved 5-mile roadway and making drainage improvements, will allow for hardy vehicles to access the beach and camping areas within the popular West Kaua‘i park. A second phase of road repair will be ongoing for approximately two weeks after the reopening, and park visitors may experience some delays due to the construction.
(HONOLULU) – Following a series of statewide public hearing on proposed changes to rules regulating activities within Hawaii’s Forest Reserve System, the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife is reminding everyone that input and comments on the rules will be accepted until May 11, 2018. The rule changes are in response to evolving natural resource concerns and the needs of managers and forest users.
(South Kona, Hawai‘i) It’s a long and rough four-wheel-drive road to reach a black sand beach at Manukā Natural Area Reserve (NAR) on Hawai’i Island. That doesn’t deter some 30 people – Hawai‘i Wildlife Fund staff, representatives from federal and state agencies and volunteers – from making the trip for nine consecutive Earth Days with a singular mission in mind. That’s to remove plastic debris, derelict fishing equipment and nets and the typical trash produced by all of us.
LIHU‘E, KAUA‘I -- The Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife on Kaua‘i will be opening Nounou Forest Reserve for a trial archery animal control of feral pigs.
(Volcano, Hawai‘i) –The eleven young ‘Alalā living in the Pu‘u Maka‘ala Natural Area Reserve on the Island of Hawai‘i continue to thrive, showing increased natural behaviors, foraging on native plants, and even challenging the occasional ‘Io, or Hawaiian Hawk. Conservationists are cautiously optimistic about the birds’ continued success in native habitat and are working together with researchers at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo to analyze vocalizations of these rare birds. Foraging and other social behaviors are also being studied to determine if historically seen activities are increasing now that the group has access to the surroundings in which they evolved.
HONOLULU — The Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife would like to thank all the wildlife artists who submitted amazing art entries for the 2018-19 Hawai‘i Wildlife Conservation and Game Bird Stamp Art Contest. A committee reviewed all submissions and two winners were chosen last month.
(LIHUE, KAUA’I) – Monitoring teams are observing more albatross on Lehua Island than they have in a long time. There’s also no sign of rats consuming plants or seabird eggs, something that was commonplace a year ago. These are exactly the kind of early indicators project partners might hope to see – signs of a recovering island ecosystem, due to the removal of introduced, damaging (invasive) rats. But there is still work to do!