October 2008 PDF
October 2008
New & Noteworthy: A Water Plan, a New NARS, and a Turtle Book
A Watershed Achievement: On August 28, the state Commission on Water Resource Management adopted the 2008 Water Resources Protection Plan, which is perhaps the most important of the six plans that collectively make up the Hawai`i Water Plan as it … Continued
Board Talk
Land Board Raps Mo`omomi Hui for Unpermitted Shoreline Slab “No treat me like one criminal. No treat me like I did something wrong…. I did something that is good for the community. And I think I better stop myself before … Continued
Coral Disease, Monk Seals, Invasive Fish Among Marine Issues at HCA Conference
“The new green is blue,” says Sylvia Earle, the pioneering marine researcher who was a plenary speaker at this year’s Hawai`i Conservation Conference. And with a theme of Island Ecosystems: The Year of the Reef, the conference, held last July … Continued
Landscapers, Conservationists Find Common Ground on Invasive Plants
Relations between conservationists wanting to reduce the introduction and spread of invasive plants, on the one hand, and advocates of horticulture, on the other, have not always been smooth. But a workshop held during the July Hawai`i Conservation Alliance’s annual … Continued
Deep-Diving Whales Most Vulnerable to Sonar Used to Detect Submarines
The best chance most of us have to see a Cuvier’s beaked whale is if it is in trouble. The species (Ziphius cavirostris) was scientifically described only in 1823, and even then, the description was made on the basis of … Continued
A Thumbnail Guide to Recent Sonar Litigation
The Navy’s use of high-intensity sonar has been challenged in several court cases, including three that recently came before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral arguments for one of the cases will be made this month before the … Continued
Editorial: The Navy’s Shameful Acts Harm Marine Mammals
The Navy has clearly and brazenly broken the law in its push to carry out undersea warfare exercises in Hawai`i. Without question, it violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it released the first environmental assessment for the exercises in … Continued
Navy’s Sonar Exercises at Heart of Case Set for Honolulu Hearing
In early February 2007, the U.S. Navy announced it had prepared an environmental assessment for a two-year series of 12 undersea warfare exercises in waters around Hawai`i. The notice of the EA was accompanied by a finding that the exercises, … Continued
As O`ahu’s Slaughterhouse Faces Closure, ADC Approves Experimental Back-up Unit
At a time when Hawai`i is seeking ways to feed more of its own people, O`ahu’s beef and pork industries are on the verge of disaster. Earlier this year, O`ahu’s only slaughterhouse, which processes both beef and pork, announced that … Continued