Department of Land and Natural Resources

‘Iao Valley State Monument will reopen on Saturday, August 5, 2017, at 7:00 a.m., The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) is in the process of completing repairs to the areas in the park that were damaged by a massive flood event in September 2016. Due to pending permit approvals to complete the project, the DLNR Division of State Parks, decided to re-open the park for residents and visitors during the hiatus of construction activity. It’s anticipated construction will resume sometime this fall after permits are approved.

Gov. David Y. Ige has appointed Robert K. Masuda as First Deputy Director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) effective August 4, 2017. In his new role, Masuda will help manage, develop, oversee and implement initiatives, programs, and policies for DLNR’s eleven divisions, including DLNR’s implementation of Gov. Ige’s Sustainable Hawaiʻi Initiative.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) is seeking community input on a proposed light industrial and commercial business park at Pulehunui in central Maui. A public meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 16 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Kihei Community Center at 303 E. Lipoa St. in Kihei to provide more information on the proposed project and invite feedback from the community.

Two women and four men were arrested early this morning by Maui Police as they attempted to block the passage of a large vehicle convoy hauling equipment up Haleakala for a new solar telescope. The protesters were among more than 100 who gathered at the intersection of Kula Highway and Old Haleakala Highway beginning at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. By midnight an estimated 60 people were still involved in a peaceful protest. The convoy led by a half dozen police vehicles included four semi-trucks pulling wide-load trailers. It reached the entrance to Haleakala National Park at 6 a.m. and Science City near the summit between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m.

Department of Land and Natural Resources Chair Suzanne Case signed an order today, temporarily closing certain State unencumbered lands adjacent to Haleakala National Park land on Maui. Hawai‘i State Administrative Rules (HAR 13-221-4) allow the DLNR Chair to close or restrict public usage for the purposes of safe transit and personal safety.

A public information meeting to initiate the North Kohala Agricultural Water Study will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, August 16, 2017 at the Kohala Village Hub – Barn, located at 55-514 Hawi Road, in Hawi, North Kohala, Hawai‘i. The meeting is sponsored by DLNR and Sen. Lorraine Inouye.

Volunteers are invited to participate in a community workday and free fun activities to help restore the natural ecosystem of three anchialine pools in the Mahai‘ula section of Kekaha Kai State Park on Saturday, July 29. A beach cleanup is also part of the day’s events.

Volunteers are invited to participate in a community workday and free fun activities to help restore the natural ecosystem of three anchialine pools in the Mahai‘ula section of Kekaha Kai State Park on Saturday, July 29. A beach cleanup is also part of the day’s events.

Since the first of this year, DLNR Division of State Parks maintenance staff on Kaua‘i have gathered, bagged, and airlifted 10.92 tons of rubbish from the Kalalau section of the Napali Coast State Wilderness Park. At least monthly, regular clean-up operations, have resulted in between 520 pounds and 2380 pounds of trash and waste being airlifted by helicopter out of the area. During some months maintenance crews conducted two-to-four operations.

A young Pueo, or Hawaiian Short-eared Owl, rescued in late March, was killed by a car on the highway between Waimea and Hanapepe two months after it had been released. The owl was originally spotted on March 22, 2017 by Dr. André Raine of the Kaua‘i Endangered Seabird Recovery Project (KESRP), who found it on the side of the road in Ele ele where it had also been struck by a car. He took the injured Pueo to the Save our Shearwaters (SOS) facility at the Kaua‘i Humane Society for treatment and rehabilitation.