Rewriting the Family Tree: In a development made possible only with the latest techniques in DNA sequencing, researchers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics have tracked down the ancestor of Hawaiian honeycreepers, those birds … Continued
Blue states and red states were the subject of a talk by Jack Mayer of the Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, South Carolina. But Mayer wasn’t discussing partisan politics. Rather, he was discussing the spread of wild pigs. On … Continued
The Waikoloa Hilton parking lot is full of cats. Signs around the lot ask that visitors not feed them, as they are being cared for by AdvoCATS, a Kona group that, according to its website, helps “abandoned and homeless felines.” … Continued
The man who sued to stop the mangrove eradication project on the Big Island, Sydney Singer, has developed a reputation for activism on behalf of non-native species that are targeted for control by mainstream conservation groups. In addition to his … Continued
Hawaiian Sandalwood ‘At Risk’: United Plant Savers, a group dedicated to protecting native medicinal plants and their habitat in the United States and Canada, has now added six species of Hawaiian sandalwood to its list of “at-risk” species. The list, … Continued
The lawsuit brought by Sydney Ross Singer to defend the red mangrove from eradication efforts has finally ended. The state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Hawai`i Tourism Authority settled with Singer last December. The remaining defendants – … Continued
No doubt about it: bigeye tuna are in trouble in the central and western Pacific Ocean. Targeted by longliners when they are adult, trapped in purse seine nets when they are young, bigeye are in a steep decline, with fisheries … Continued
Within the next few weeks, a judge in federal Bankruptcy Court in Honolulu may decide the fate of a company that is logging thousands of tons of sandalwood from lands high above Kealakekua Bay, in what was once one of … Continued
It may get even harder for renewable energy projects to hook up to electricity grids on O`ahu, Maui, and Hawai`i if a proposal by the utilities on those islands wins state approval. The utilities say they are just trying to … Continued
Court Gets Forest City Appeal: The Queen Lili`uokalani Trust has appealed the decision of the state Land Use Commission approving the Kona project known as Kamakana Villages, to be developed by the Hawai`i Housing and Finance Development Corporation and Forest … Continued