An old-growth `ohi`a forest in South Kona has been spared the developer’s ax – for now, at least. Judge Ronald Ibarra of the 3rd Circuit Court has determined that the County of Hawai`i planning director, Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd, and the … Continued
Caren Diamond halts her trek along the shore and peers through dense thickets of naupaka and heliotrope to a man working in his backyard. She warns that if he sees us walk past, he might say some nasty things about … 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
When it comes to environmental issues addressed by the 2013 Legislature, repeal of the Public Land Development Corporation grabbed headlines. That agency, established by the Legislature just two short years ago and signed into law as Act 55 of the … Continued
Monk Seals Are Not Pigs: Hawaiian monk seals are critically endangered, with only about 1,100 remaining in the wild, 140 of which live in the main Hawaiian islands. While federal resource managers are trying to grow those numbers, fishermen have begun … Continued
DLNR to Create Trust Fund For Coral Reef Restoration “We need it yesterday,” Department of Land and Natural Resources director William Aila said of the proposed new scheme to help his department restore damaged reefs and bill those responsible. During … 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
Fourteen years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency banned large-capacity cesspools. Under the EPA’s definition, an LCC (as the agency terms it) is any shallow injection well that receives sanitary waste from one or more buildings visited by 20 or more … Continued
In October of 2011, Governor Neil Abercrombie received a letter from Cheryl Vasconcellos, seeking his help “to overcome some bureaucratic red tape… Hana Health would like to renovate and/or construct new buildings and improve services … as well as remove … Continued
The Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting continues to stand behind its Ko`olau Loa Sustainable Communities Plan, which proposes expanding the urban growth boundary in La`ie to allow for the construction of an entirely new town on agricultural land in … Continued