The state Commission on Water Resource Management has too much to do and too little staff to waste time on a petition to designate an aquifer where pumping is nowhere near the sustainable yield. That, basically, was the sentiment of … 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
Land Board Fines Another Maui Kayak Tour Company Paul Noble offered every argument he could to justify his kayak tour company’s use of the state’s Olowalu Beach Reserve on Maui: Some nameless Department of Land and Natural Resources employee on … Continued
False Killer Whale Recovery Plan: The beginning of this month was the deadline to submit information to the National Marine Fisheries Service on a recovery plan for the endangered insular stock of Hawaiian false killer whales. On October 2, the day … Continued
A young tourist couple walks up the worn, sloping trail that Paradise Ranch, LLC, fenced off in 2011 to keep people out and its cattle off Lepeuli beach on Kaua`i’s North Shore. The two carefully slip over the top of … Continued
Enforcement Sting Nets First Violator Under New Permit System at Kealakekua The Department of Land and Natural Resources wanted to send a message: It is done messing around when it comes to prosecuting illegal kayak vendors at Kealakekua Bay … Continued
With several important actions in limbo pending the outcome of a complaint Environment Hawai`i filed in November with the Office of Information Practices, the board of the state Agribusiness Development Corporation decided it was better to play it safe. So … Continued
“When somebody cuts off an access, you gotta jump on it,” warns Kaua`i County Council member Tim Bynum. In 2007, the county lost a federal lawsuit over what it had thought was a public road through a 174-acre property called … Continued
More than a decade ago, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources asked Haleakala Ranch Company for permission to access the ranch’s Makawao lands so it could determine the route of a historic, public trail to Haleakala, known as … Continued
“We’ve negotiated lots of accesses. This is the worst I’ve ever seen,” said Kaua`i County Council Planning Committee member Tim Bynum of the proposed mauka-makai easement in Waipake offered by Falko Partners, LLC, as part of its 357-acre Kahu`aina Plantation … Continued