Among the measures passed by the 2008 Legislature are ones to increase fines for violations of the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ land use regulations and to beef up the Department of Agriculture’s powers to control noxious plants. By … Continued
The pictures of dead roadside shrubs and tortured, shriveled leaves say it all: If introduced to Hawai`i, myoporum thrips could do to naio what erythrina gall wasps did to the state’s wiliwili trees. At last March’s Natural Area Reserves System … Continued
Recently, I trekked around Kilauea – through lava landscapes where the earth opens up like a crystal ball and we can peer into the past and future of Hawai`i. My first trip descended Hilina Pali, the long slope that stretches … Continued
I’d like to clarify something that Kitty [Simonds, executive director of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council] misrepresented at the 141st council teleconference: The email that I sent to all council staff consisted of a page from one of the … Continued
In March, Environment Hawai`i reported on the efforts of the `aha kiole advisory committee to award a contract to Leimana DaMate, whose involvement with the puwalu series of workshops sponsored by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council has generated some … Continued
To the Editor: I was disappointed in your analysis in the February 2008 edition of Environment Hawai`i (“Reversals at Supreme Court Raise Question: Is Water Commission on the Right Track?”), about how the commission “doesn’t get it.” I expect more … Continued
A dispute over how to allocate affordable housing credits accumulated by Nansay when it owned the Puako was settled only last year after years of litigation involving Nansay, Bridge `Aina Le`a, and the County of Hawai`i. In the early 1990s, … Continued
Late last year, Bridge `Aina Le`a announced it would be preparing an environmental impact statement for a development planned for some 3,000 acres of land at Puako, on the western side of the island of Hawai`i. Yet for two years, … Continued
In the two decades since development was first proposed for some 3,000 acres inland of Puako Bay on the western Kohala coast of the Big Island, plans have changed frequently – and radically. Initial plans, put forward in the late … Continued
The critical need for parking in Kapahulu just couldn’t beat the need to replenish the coffers of the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ dwindling Land Development Special Fund, which is the sole source of funding for the Land Division, … Continued