Kuka`iau Ranch Acquisition Wins Much of 2017’s Legacy Land Funds Breaking with a decade of past practice, the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) in May supplanted funding recommendations from the Legacy Land Conservation Commission with its own. At the … Continued
Kekaha Kai State Park Gets Permit For Upgrades Over Surfer’s Objection No surfer likes it when one of their favorite breaks is crowded. That includes Hawai`i island resident Janice Palma-Glennie, who sits on the executive committee of the Surfrider Foundation’s Kona … Continued
The first — and perhaps, only —slate of projects recommended for funding by the state’s nascent Water Security Advisory Group includes a range of efforts to increase freshwater sustainability, from building catchment systems to re-engineering taro irrigation canals to installing … Continued
`Aina Le`a Update: DW `Aina Le`a, LLC, which owns 1,072 acres of land near Waikoloa, on the Kohala coast of the Big Island, is suing the state of Hawai`i for $200 million as a result of actions by the Land … Continued
Are minor actions permitted by the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR)— or any other state agency, for that matter — exempt from environmental review under the Hawai‘i Environmental Policy Act (HEPA)? A beach cleanup, a night of camping … Continued
The Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) seems willing to do almost anything to get its proposed pumped storage hydropower project along West Kaua‘i’s Koke‘e ditch system built. While not an original party to the water waste complaint and petition to … Continued
Koke`e Cabin Squatter Case Highlights DLNR’s Property Management Defects What happens when the state Department of Land and Natural Resources doesn’t have sufficient staff to properly manage its properties and permits? In 2015, agents on loan from the department’s Land Division … Continued
If all goes as planned, Lehua island, a 284-acre state-designated seabird sanctuary that’s less than a mile north of Ni`ihau, will be rat-free in the very near future. But that’s a big “if.” Among other things, the state Division of … Continued
In June 2011, Island Conservation eradicated rats on Palmyra atoll, which is located about 1,000 miles south of Hawai`i and is co-owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy. The company aerially broadcast the anticoagulant rodenticide … Continued
It’s too soon to say what the Lehua rat eradication/restoration project will ultimately look like, but public comment on its draft environmental assessment as of press time was minimal (only four comments) and mixed (two neutral, one supportive, one asking … Continued