Former state Department of Health director Lawrence Miike, a physician and a lawyer, is the longest-serving member of the state Commission on Water Resource Management and was the lone dissenter in the commission’s recent decisions to amend the interim … Continued
When it comes to marine mammals in the Pacific, there is no shortage of crises. Tour operations are rousing spinner dolphins from their rest, fishing gear is hooking and entangling whales, and young monk seals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands … Continued
Last month, Environment Hawai`i sat down with three of the editors of Conservation Biology of Hawaiian Forest Birds: Implications for Island Avifauna, to discuss issues raised in the book (published in November by Yale University Press). Here are excerpts from that interview, conducted by … Continued
Thane Pratt, Carter Atkinson, Paul Banko, James Jacobi, and Bethany Woodworth, eds. Conservation Biology of Hawaiian Forest Birds: Implications for Island Avifauna. Yale University Press, 2009. 728 pages. $85.00 (hardcover) If Hawai`i lost its remaining native forest birds, plenty of birds would … Continued
New Penalty Guidelines for Kealakekua Bay The state Board of Land and Natural Resources has approved new civil penalty guidelines for “minor” violations at Kealakekua Bay on the island of Hawai`i. For years, the state has struggled to control the … Continued
Final Bigeye Rule: The National Marine Fisheries Service has issued a final rule to implement a quota on bigeye tuna caught in the western Pacific by the Hawai`i longline fleet. The rule, published in the December 7, 2009, Federal Register, took effect December … Continued
Whether or not Castle & Cooke Resorts illegally used potable water to irrigate its Manele golf course is now moot, much to the relief of Castle & Cooke Resorts, LLC, and to the chagrin of the citizens’ group Lanaians for … Continued
A recent decision of the Intermediate Court of Appeals has not settled the law on ownership of accreted shore land in Hawai`i, but has rather set in motion heated debate on exactly what the court’s decision means. By January 11, … Continued
It is well established in Hawaii that the high wash of the waves determines the boundary between public and private land. And given the ruling late last year by the state Intermediate Court of Appeals, it appears that the state, … Continued
Fence to Protect Ka`ena Point’s Birds, Plants “The fence is an opportunity to give back to organisms we stomped on,” University of Hawai`i zoology professor Sheila Conant told the state Board of Land and Natural Resources at its meeting … Continued