Pia Valley Approval: The state Forest Stewardship Advisory Committee (FSAC) has given its approval to the acquisition by the Department of Land and Natural Resources of a 300-acre parcel of forested land in East Honolulu. Pia Valley, which lies in … Continued
More Fences Cut: In June, the Department of Land and Natural Resources disclosed that vandals had cut openings in two miles of fences around Pu`u Maka`ala Natural Area Reserve on the Big Island. According to a DLNR press release, “vandals … Continued
Moving Targets: Four years ago, the Hawai`i Clean Energy Initiative issued a “road map” identifying strategies for reducing the use of fossil fuels in the transportation sector. So how is that working out? Last month, the state released a draft … Continued
Warring `Aina Le`a Factions: The developer that began building the townhouses on the stalled `Aina Le`a project in South Kohala has sued the company that owns most of the land where the full build-out is to take place. The lawsuit … Continued
Cycle City: Honolulu’s King Street now has a dedicated bicycle lane, and, if all goes according to plan, it will soon have its own bikeshare program, financed through the Department of Health’s Healthy Hawai`i Initiative. Last month, the Chronic Disease Prevention … Continued
Council Loses an Advisor: Robin Baird, one of the leading experts on false killer whales in waters around Hawai`i, has resigned from the Protected Species Advisory Committee of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Wespac). Baird resigned effective January 31. The … Continued
Humpback Delisting Petition: A newly formed association claiming to represent Hawai`i fishermen wants to remove the North Pacific population of humpback whales from the federal list of endangered species.The group, calling itself Hawai`i Fishermen’s Alliance for Conservation and Tradition, Inc. (HFACT), … Continued
Undocumented Birds: There’s a new bird on Maui, and it arrived without any by-your-leave from the state. The golden pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus) was probably brought into the state sometime in the early 1990s and is now breeding in Waikamoi Preserve, managed … Continued
Sailing On: “Ahoy rrrr ye mateys! The Queen’s Treasure be sailin again!” read the June 28 message to followers of Queen’s Treasure’s Facebook page. For about the last year and a half, Ka`anapali Tours, LLC (KTL), which owns the 65-foot luxury catamaran, has been fighting … Continued
Kaua`i Springs to Get High Court Hearing: The Hawai`i Supreme Court will hear the appeal of a Kaua`i water bottler from an Intermediate Court of Appeals decision last spring. The lower court had ruled on April 30 that the Kaua`i County … Continued