Department of Land and Natural Resources

(Hilo) – The DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) is asking for help in identifying two men they’d like to question in connection with the recent apparent poisonings of several East Hawai‘i streams. Hundreds of dead Tahitian prawns were found in the streams shortly after the men were picked up on surveillance cameras at the Hawai‘i Tropical Botanical Garden.

(Honolulu) – The wreckage of a Robinson R44 helicopter was airlifted out of waist deep water in Kaneohe Bay just before noon today.  Two DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) officers assisted a rigger from Pacific Helicopters in getting straps and ropes around the chopper, which had turned on one side during or after the accident.

(Hilo) – Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD), the fungal disease that’s impacted hundreds of thousands of acres of native ‘ōhi‘a forests in Hawai‘i, is the actual reason for the ʻŌhiʻa Love Festival today at the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center. Now in its second year, more than a thousand people honored ‘ōhi‘a and the many people working to stop the spread of ROD and find effective treatments for it. The festival goes beyond the disease.

(Maunakea) – Two weeks before the hunting season for game birds opens in Hawai‘i, hunters, researchers and staff from the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) traipsed across the rugged terrain on Maunakea’s north slopes to gain a better understanding of game bird density, variety and populations.

(Lihu‘e)  – School children from Kalaheo Elementary School and Island School helped release ten fledgling ‘A‘o (Newell’s Shearwaters) over the last two days during the annual E Ho‘opomaika‘i ‘ia na Manu ‘A‘o (A Cultural Release of the Native Newell’s Shearwater) event at Lydgate Park.  The young seabirds had been rescued by people then rehabilitated by Save Our Shearwaters (SOS). Before they started their journey back out to sea, Kupuna Maureen Fodale offered a pule (Hawaiian prayer).

(Honolulu) - A wastewater system improvement project by the Department of Land & Natural Resources Engineering and State Park divisions is currently being conducted at the Keaīwa Heiau State Recreation Area. The project started October 1st and is expected to take several months with an anticipated completion in March 2019 or earlier. The contractor is RHS Lee Inc. Project cost is $186,200.

(Hilo) – Later this month, the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) will conduct animal control activities specifically for trapping mouflon/feral sheep hybrids, feral goats, feral sheep, mouflon and mouflon/feral sheep hybrids within in the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve (Unit A), Mauna Kea Ice Age Natural Area Reserve (Unit K), Palila Mitigation Lands, and the Kaohe Game Management Area (Unit G) on Hawai‘i island.  Aerial shooting is required for compliance with a federal court order mandating the removal of sheep and goats from critical habitat for palila, a bird endemic to Hawai‘i.

(Honolulu) - Following the rockslide event more than two weeks ago, the Manoa Falls Trail and Aihualama Trail reopen tomorrow, Monday, October 8, 2018. The trails also reopen to commercial tour vendors on Monday.

(Hilo) – During a regularly scheduled quarterly aerial assessment of forests on Hawai‘i island in late July, spotters detected more trees “symptomatic” for the presence of C. lukuohia, the fungus more commonly known as Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death. These trees are in the Kalōpā State Recreation Area on the Hamakua Coast and after the helicopter surveys utilizing digital mobile sketch mapping (DMSM), ground crews from the Big Island Invasive Species Committee (BIISC) followed up by taking ground samples.

HONOLULU --   Imagine waking up one day and finding there was no water.  No water to drink or to cook with.  No water to brush your teeth, to shower, flush the toilet, or do laundry with.  No water to fight fires or to irrigate our food crops.  Hospitals would close, schools would close, businesses would shut down.