Department of Land and Natural Resources

(HONOLULU) – Three officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) and three lifeguards from the City and County of Honolulu Ocean Safety & Lifeguard Services recovered an enormous and extremely heavy ball of derelict fishing nets this afternoon.  It’s not known whether the nets are part of the two-mile-long marine debris field that was first reported by a fisherman last weekend between Moloka‘i and Oah‘u? DOCARE officers familiar with the area where the net was spotted, feel that it is. They say it’s unusual to finding nets of this magnitude off Waikiki.

(HONOLULU) – State and Federal agencies are tracking what is described as a very large marine debris field or net mass last spotted in the Ka Iwi Channel between Moloka‘i and O‘ahu, about 12 nautical miles south of O‘ahu. The marine debris was first reported by a fisherman last Saturday, who saw it 9.5 miles south of Koko Crater and 3.5 miles from penguin banks. The fisher described it as being two nautical miles long and containing massive amounts of nets, ropes, buoys, crates and drums.

LIHU‘E, KAUA‘I --  The Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife will hold an information meeting to gather public comments on a proposal to institute a trial archery (bow and arrow) hunting program for feral pigs in the Nounou Mountain Forest Reserve on Kaua‘i.

(HONOLULU) – Based on witness reports and a social media posting, the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement is investigating the possible illegal removal of rocks (pohaku) from Ka‘ena Point State Park yesterday afternoon.

(HONOLULU) – Nearly every week the local news reports on hikers who’ve gotten lost and disoriented or who have fallen and been injured or even killed. Often times these hikers were on non-sanctioned or ‘social trails’ highlighted by various social media sites and blogs.  The DLNR Na Ala Hele Trail and Access System, administered by the Division of Forestry and Wildlife has introduced a newly designed trails website which provides detailed information, directions, safety considerations, announcements and closure status for more than 100 official State trails.

(HONOLULU) – In the first year of its 10-year plan to strengthen biosecurity, the State of Hawai‘i reports it took dozens of steps to better present, detect and control invasive species in Hawai‘i.

LIHU‘E, KAUA‘I —   The Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) announces the future availability of feral goat control permits in Hunting Unit A, Kekaha Game Management Area (GMA) on the island of Kaua‘i, pursuant to Title 13, Chapter 123-2.2, 5, 5.1 and 9 in “Rules Regulating Game Mammal Hunting.”

(HILO, HAWAI‘I) – You usually hear them before you see them.  There’s no mistaking the loud and often times synchronized cacophony of caws from eleven ‘Alalā released into a Hawai‘i Island Natural Area Reserve (NAR) last fall. These birds, seven young males and four young females, represent what conservationists hope is the beginning of a recovered population of the endangered Hawaiian crow on the island.  ‘Alalā have been extinct in the wild since 2002. Since the birds took flight from a remote forest aviary in September and October 2017, they’ve been under the daily, watchful eyes of a monitoring team from the Hawai‘i Endangered Conservation Program, a field program of the San Diego Zoo Global (SDZG).  In partnership with the Hawai‘i Dept. of Land & Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others, SDZG reared the ‘Alalā at its centers on the Big Island and on Maui.

(LIHU‘E, KAUA‘I) --   This winter, the Wailua Management Road (aka.Loop Road), which leads to Kaua‘i’s Blue Hole area, has experienced severe damage due to heavy rains and falling trees. The road was closed on November 26, 2017 to all public access (foot and vehicular travel) beyond the point popularly known as “Jurassic” gate, due to hazardous road conditions. 

KAHULUI --  A project to remove and trim hazardous trees within the Waihou Springs State Forest Reserve along the Olinda and Piiholo road corridor began yesterday and is anticipated to take between five to seven days between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.  There will be no road closures, however there may be temporary stoppage of vehicular traffic lasting no more than five minutes.