Were it not for a little-noticed provision in the 1998 Defense Appropriations Bill, chances are good that the state’s preparations for a bull market in cruise ship traffic would be less focused and urgent. The act contains a section called … Continued
The Caribbean holds 46 percent of the international cruise market. Like Hawai`i, it is experiencing an economic slump. Agriculture, once the Caribbean’s economic mainstay, has not been a force in decades for most islands. The largest economic engine in the … Continued
“What kind of farmers are we? Do we want to distinguish ourselves from other farmers?” Ben Sadeghi asks as he walks his small, family-run Kamuela dairy farm on the Big Island. Those “other farmers” he is referring to are some … Continued
At the beginning of the 1990s, Monsanto Corporation’s recombinant bovine growth hormone (also known as BST, for bovine somatotropin and by its brand-name Posilac) was on its way to becoming the first bioengineered food product to be mass marketed. But … Continued
The following article is reprinted from the April 9, 1998 edition of Rachel’s Environment & Health Weekly. In the fall of 1996, award-winning reporters Steve Wilson and Jane Akre were hired by WTVT in Tampa to produce a series on … Continued
Rift Arises in Conservation Community Over Benefits of Critical Habitat The conservation community in Hawai`i is divided over a proposal that would have the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designate critical habitat for 245 species of endangered plants. To some, … Continued
Genetically Engineered Crops Change The Face Of Hawai`i Agriculture On January 25, 1998, University of Hawai`i horticulturalist Richard Manshardt informed the U.S. Department of Agriculture of “a minor problem that has occurred in our papaya field.” At the time, Manshardt … Continued
What follows is a portion of Governor Benjamin Cayetano’s letter to then-Department of Land and Natural Resources Director Mike Wilson on October 8, 1998. Soon thereafter, the letter, drafted by Al Castro of the governor’s Hilo office, was retracted, with … Continued
The rainforest that spreads across the eastern flank of Mauna Loa is unlike any other. Where the Amazon’s sweep seems uniform, the Big Island’s native rainforest is a mosaic. The pieces are biologically distinct from each other because they were … Continued