Commission Pressures BWS to Meet Proposed Heʻeia Stream Flow Standards
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
Study Maps Areas Where Fishers and False Killer Whales Overlap
For years now, an issue that has stymied efforts to protect false killer whales from the often fatal interactions with the gear of non-longline commercial fishers has been the fact that there are no reliable figures on just how often … Continued
New & Noteworthy: Waikoloa, Kern, and Dairy Drama
Waikoloa Project 2.0: The proposed affordable housing project on 11.7 acres of land near the Big Island community of Waikoloa is going back to the drawing board. Two bills that would have allowed the development of commercial space, affordable housing … Continued
Agribusiness Agency Explains Reasons Behind Slow Progress in Utilizing Lands
“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 Talk: Aquarium Collecting Violations, Kawailoa Wind Farm, and Kauaʻi Tower Dispute
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
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Bridge ʻAina Leʻa’s Claim of Taking
The U.S. Supreme Court has laid to rest, once and for all, the claim of Bridge ʻAina Leʻa that the state of Hawaiʻi owes it money for a temporary taking. That “taking” claim arises from the Land Use Commission’s 2011 … Continued