Department of Land and Natural Resources

(Hilo) - The opening of the 2021 spring bearded turkey hunting season begins on Monday, March 1, 2021. The spring season will run for 46 consecutive days through Thursday, April 15, 2021. The spring season will be for bearded turkeys only, in locations identified below. The season length, bag limits, and hunting areas are those established in Title 13, Chapter 122, “Rules Regulating Game Bird Hunting, Field Trials and Commercial Shooting Preserves.

(Lānaʻi City) – The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) announce that online applications for a combination 2021 Lānaʻi Axis Deer and Mouflon Sheep Season will be available to the public beginning Monday, February 22, 2021.  Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, hunters will be required to apply online for this hunt.

(Līhuʻe) – The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) and Division of State Parks (DSP) will be sponsoring a forest products auction for Kaua’i Native Hawaiian wood. All wood has been salvaged and harvested from DLNR lands on the island of Kaua’i over the last several years.

(HONOLULU) – As the spring season nears, it also marks the beginning of the annual Hawai’i Big Tree competition. The Big Tree competition is sponsored by the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) and nonprofit organization American Forests.

(Waimānalo) – Just after dawn, two officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) drove around the 16-acre former site of the Dragon Garden-Hawai‘i Bonsai Cultural Center in the back of the valley in Waimānalo. They entered numerous structures to make sure there were no squatters, in advance of an enormous clean-up of the property.

(Mānoa Cliffs Restoration Area, O‘ahu) – State researchers, working to re-establish the population of Hawai‘i’s official state insect, the Kamehameha butterfly (pulelehua), are being deterred by predators that are feeding on caterpillars before they have a chance to develop into butterflies.

(HONOLULU) – People don’t always think of butterflies as insects, though when they’re in the caterpillar stage, you’re reminded of which kingdom they’re from. Hawai‘i’s native butterfly, the Kamehameha butterfly, is a unique member of the insect kingdom and was named after a king. These are some of the things children of all ages will learn in the just-released educational book, “Butterfly for a King.”

(HONOLULU) – All visitors and commercial operators will need to make reservations to enter the popular Waiʻānapana State Park on Maui, beginning on March 1.  Before the COVID-19 pandemic the popular park, located near the end of the famous Hana Highway in East Maui, had seen increased crowding and a glut of commercial tours.

(HONOLULU) – Earlier this week, the families of native Hawaiians buried at Polihale on Kaua‘i, issued impassioned pleas for people to be respectful and to follow rules and laws designed to protect natural and cultural resources, and all park users. 

(Līhuʻe) - New FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) will become effective on February 26, 2021 and could impact a property’s flood risk and requirements for federally mandated flood insurance.  The DLNR, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Kaua‘i County are informing property owners and renters that updated flood studies for the Hanapēpē and Waimea rivers and Moloa‘a stream and bay may have changed property’s flood risk.