Sierra Club Loss: Last month, 1st Circuit Judge Jeffrey Crabtree ruled against the Sierra Club’s Hawai‘i Chapter and in support of the Board of Land and Natural Resources’ decisions in 2018 and 2019 to grant revocable permits for the continued diversion … Continued
Contamination of coastal waters caused by sewage from cesspools and other onsite sewage disposal systems (OSDS) as well as sewage infrastructure will only increase with the rise in sea level over the next few decades. In fact, it is already … Continued
For more than a decade, the Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council (Wespac) has fruitlessly decried the proliferation and expansion of marine national monuments throughout the Pacific, beginning with President Bush’s establishment of Hawaiʻi’s Papahanaumokuakea monument in 2006. But when Donald … Continued
“We know in many places of the country, our fisheries are being affected by climate change,” Sam Rauch, NOAA’s deputy assistant administrator for regulatory programs told the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Wespac) last month. Fish stocks are moving from … Continued
“It is a very dire situation. We have some strategies, and we’re pursuing them as fast as possible on parallel tracks, but it’s a lot of fingers crossed right now,” Department of Land and Natural Resources director Suzanne Case told … Continued
Recycling in Good Conscience: In 2019, Hawaiʻi exported more than 10 million pounds of plastics for recycling to destinations selected almost always based on cost. But, as Senate Resolution 12 notes, “end-of-life processing for recyclable plastics and waste in many … Continued
Even in the rainy Koʻolaupoko region of Windward Oʻahu, which stretches from Hakipuʻu to Makapuʻu, there is competition for water when it’s dry. Over the past several years, efforts to restore taro fields, an ancient Hawaiian fishpond, and the estuary … Continued
“My thing is, you never turn away what the Legislature gives you.” That’s what state Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC) executive director James Nakatani told then-Department of Agriculture director Scott Enright five years ago, when Enright asked why, out of all … Continued
Board Levies $272,000 in Fines Against West Hawaiʻi Aquarium Fish Poachers On February 26, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources levied a record fine against husband and wife aquarium fish collectors Stephen Howard and Yukako Toriyama. The couple … Continued
“Grandfathered seawall! … Motivated seller!” a December 2018 sales pitch for the property at 59-175C Ke Nui Road on Oʻahu’s famed Sunset Beach proclaimed. Motivated, indeed. Within three months, the owner sold the lot for about half a million dollars … Continued