On July 31, the Natural Area Reserves System Commission approved a special use permit to the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) field site within the Pu‘u Maka‘ala Natural Area Reserve (NAR) on Hawai’i … Continued
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ (DLNR) effort to rid its Lehua Island bird sanctuary of invasive rats got off to a rocky start last month. The agency did not receive notice from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric … Continued
Hu Honua Permit: The Public Utilities Commission has given the green light to a power purchase agreement between Hawaiian Electric and Hu Honua, the 30-megawatt power plant under construction some 10 miles north of Hilo that proposes to use trees … Continued
September 2017
August 2017
Pepe`ekeo Access Closed: On June 26, Steven Strauss, attorney for Scott Watson, informed the Hawai`i County Planning Department that his client intended to “permanently close” the temporary public shoreline access along his property in Pepe`ekeo, about 10 miles north of … Continued
The first session of the 2017 Legislature broke little new ground in terms of environmental law-making. About a dozen bills that nibbled at the edges of meaningful action made it across the finish line with the signature of Governor David … Continued
Over the last decade, Hawai`i County has approved Community Development Plans (CDPs) for most of the districts making up the Big Island. The Kona CDP was one of the first, adopted by the County Council in 2008, and resulted from … Continued
Landscaper May Finally Pay State Its Nearly Half A Million Dollar Debt An ill-timed auction. An effort to give a Waimanalo animal shelter time to relocate after its lease expired. Alleged verbal instructions from state land agents to the new tenant … Continued
For the better part of the last three decades, every summer on the Big Island, Stanford University professor Peter Vitousek has hosted a meeting of researchers, resource managers, students, and others who have an interest in understanding ecosystem elements and … Continued