The Thirty Meter Telescope contested case hearing continued its no wake-dead slow progress into uncharted waters last month. While retired judge Riki May Amano was nominally at the helm, it was the band of protesters who seemed to have control … Continued
For the fifth year in a row, bills intended to make it easier and cheaper for landowners to retain legally built shoreline structures that, through shoreline erosion, are now on public land have either been stalled or deferred. Senate Bill … Continued
When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published its recovery plan for the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat in April 1998, it didn’t consider wind farms to be a threat to the species. At the time, potential threats included habitat loss, … Continued
Operators of Hawai`i’s wind farms are poised to spend more than $4 million on efforts to fill critical knowledge gaps regarding the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat, and may eventually spend up to $6 million. “We’re starting a massive research push,” … Continued
Having been pushed back a month from its previously scheduled time, the re-opened contested case hearing on amendments to the interim instream flow standards (IIFS) of some two dozen East Maui streams begins on February 6 at Maui Community College and … Continued
January began with the TIO (the TMT International Observatory, LLC) wrapping up its case in support of the Conservation District Use Permit for the Thirty Meter Telescope. Witnesses included two native Hawaiians with doctoral degrees in astronomy or astrophysics: Paul … Continued
As the case involving the challenge to the application to build the Thirty Meter Telescope enters its fifth month of testimony and evidence, some government procedure wonks have raised the question: Are contested cases still appropriate for disputes coming before … Continued
Robin W. Baird. The Lives of Hawai`i’s Dolphins and Whales: Natural History and Conservation. University of Hawai`i Press, 2016. 342 pages (including bibliography and index). Less than two decades ago, knowledge of and research into Hawai`i’s cetaceans was pretty much … Continued
February 2017
The contested case hearing on a Conservation District Use Application for the Thirty-Meter Telescope continued its slow pace last month, with 11 days of hearings. On December 13, the University of Hawai`i, which is the applicant for the Conservation District … Continued