Department of Land and Natural Resources

(KAPAʻA)–Hosting its 4th virtual “Forest Friday” conversation on June 4 the Kauaʻi Invasive Species Committee (KISC) and Kauaʻi Forest Bird Recovery Project (KFBRP) plan to address dwindling forest bird populations on Kaua’i. This month’s topic is: The skies are empty and the forest is quiet. Is it too late to save our native forest birds? 

(HONOLULU) – One of Hawaiʻi’s most popular trails will be reopening soon, just in time for National Trails Day. The DLNR Nā Ala Hele Trail and Access Program, part of the Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) will reopen the Mānoa Falls Trail on June 5, 2021. The popular trail was originally closed in July 2019 for the installation of a rockfall hazard mitigation fence next to the falls. With the trail closed for the fence installation, Nā Ala Hele also installed some long overdue trail safety improvements.  

(Honolulu) - Are you a community organization, non-profit, school, neighbor or other groups working on promoting the health and well-being of your community through growing the trees and forest all around us?  This opportunity is for you! 

(Hāpuna Beach State Recreation Area, Hawai‘i Island) – The designation of Hāpuna Beach as the top-rated beach in the U.S., by Stephen Leatherman (aka Dr. Beach), highlights the continuing paradox of protecting the features that make it #1 while sharing it with ever-increasing throngs of visitors. This was Dr. Beach’s 30th annual ranking of best beaches. 

(HONOLULU) – The upcoming holiday weekend could see the largest post-pandemic number of locals and visitors using state parks, trails, and taking to the water. Numerous DLNR divisions, responsible for management of public facilities and locales, are gearing up for big crowds in popular parks and on heavily used trails and recreating on beaches and in the ocean.

(KAILUA-KONA) – Two, half-day closures on May 28 and 29 at Waialea Bay Marine Life Conservation District (MLCD), will allow corals to spawn and produce new keiki.  The beach at Waialea is known locally as Beach 69 and the 35-acre bay is one of eleven MLCDs in Hawai‘i, which enjoy the highest level of protection for their invaluable marine resources. 

(HONOLULU) – Friday evening, Historic Hawai‘i Foundation(HHF) presented its 47th Annual Preservation Honor Awards during a virtual ceremony. Two programs/projects of the DLNR Division of State Parks and one DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) project were recognized.

(HONOLULU) – These arms carry plates and twenty of them are anchored with cinder blocks in commercial harbors around the state. ARMS stands for Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures. They’ve been deployed in Honolulu and Barbers Point Harbors on O‘ahu, Nawiliwili Harbor on Kaua‘i, Kahului Harbor on Maui, and Hilo Harbor on Hawai‘i Island.  In the last few weeks, researchers from the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) have been diving to collect ARMS structures. 

(Waikīkī) – Just in time for the upcoming summer season, the Waikīkī Beach Maintenance project to restore and rejuvenate Waikīkī is complete. The 14-week-long recurring maintenance retrieved marine sand from a large sand field in shallow waters about 1,000-feet offshore. The project has roughly doubled the beach width on most sections of the Royal Hawaiian Beach cell between the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and Kūhiō Beach Park. 

(HONOLULU) – Dec. 22, 2009, is a day seared in Earl Miyamoto’s memory. He was on “pup watch,” keeping a close eye on a mother Hawaiian monk seal and her newborn on a remote beach in the Poʻipū area of Kaua‘i.