Department of Land and Natural Resources

(HONOLULU) – DLNR is re-deploying First Deputy of the Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM), Kaleo Manuel, to a different DLNR division. The purpose of this deployment is to permit CWRM and the Department to focus on the necessary work to assist the people of Maui recover from the devastation of wildfires.

(MĀʻALAEA SMALL BOAT HARBOR, MAUI) – Today, the Maui-Lānaʻi Passenger Ferry, operated by Expeditions, resumed interisland service.  The DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) worked expeditiously to clear the ferry dock of fire ash and debris at the Māʻalaea Small Boat Harbor to accommodate the ferry.

(KAHALUI, MAUI) – The Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources is providing aerial video and photos from flyovers today, of all four fires spread this week by winds from a hurricane passing south of the state. All images and video courtesy: Hawai‘i DLNR 

(LĪHUʻE) – Bird experts on Kauaʻi are using all the tools in their toolbox to keep critically endangered forest birds from going extinct. One honeycreeper species, ʻakikiki, could disappear from the wild this year due to mosquito-borne avian malaria, with another species, ʻakekeʻe, not far behind.

(HILO, HAWAI‘I) – The dilapidated and condemned Uncle Billy’s hotel will have a perimeter fence constructed around the entire property beginning this month.  

(HONOLULU) – Marine pollution is a very significant threat to marine life in the ocean. Abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing nets can ruin essential habitat like coral reefs, as well as entangle marine life such as turtles and humpback whales. The Protected Species Program with the Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) would like to remind everyone to utilize its statewide marine debris hotline and reporting website.

(HONOLULU) – The Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR), on Friday, tentatively approved a proposed settlement by the Albert Trust parties only to pay the fine of $117,472 for the Nakoa boat grounding that damaged over 100 coral colonies and over 1,900 square yards of live rock just outside the Honolua-Mokulēʻia Bay Marine Life Conservation District, on Maui’s west coast. 

(Kailua-Kona) – Construction is set to begin on July 31 on the wash down drainage area at the Honokohau Small Boat Harbor. This project involves removing, hauling, and disposing of drain rock, silt, debris, etc. from the existing clogged and overflowing boat wash down area of the trench drain.

(HONOLULU) – Oral arguments scheduled before the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) for July 28 regarding a petition from the Mauna Kea Hui for a declaratory ruling concerning the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) have been deferred. The Board will notify the parties via a Minute Order when a new date has been selected.   Documents related to the petition can be found in Table 3 at https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/occl/tmt/.

(HONOLULU) – Unless you have a connection with the fire service you may not know that King Kamehameha III founded the Honolulu Fire Dept. (HFD) in 1851. Every recruit class, since 2018,  learns this and the department’s connection to its ancestry and heritage by visiting Mauna ‘Ala, the Royal Mausoleum in Nu‘uanu. This morning, eleven firefighter recruits, set to graduate on Friday, gathered at Mauna ‘Ala for protocol and a ceremony that recognizes HFD’s strong connection to ali’i.