{"id":7272,"date":"2015-02-01T00:47:19","date_gmt":"2015-02-01T00:47:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/wordpress\/?page_id=7272"},"modified":"2026-05-05T11:25:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T21:25:29","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/","title":{"rendered":"Cover Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cutting Losses<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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 A ledger kept by Ben Lessary showing the amount due for work done during the week in October 2023 when unauthorized clearing occurred in the Conservation District at Marconi Point (left) \u2014 $23,418 \u2014  and a bank statement from Sushil Grag\u2019s Greystone HI Investments LLC, indicating Lessary was paid that amount on October 19, 2023 (right). Credit: Contested case hearing exhibits. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The contested case hearing over the destruction of strand habitat for endangered yellow-faced bees has almost come to an end, nearly three years after the clearing event occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landowner Sushil Garg has denied ever authorizing the work, yet he pre-paid for the rental of equipment used, praised \u2014 or was at least okay with \u2014 the work after it had begun, then, afterward, paid the clearing crew for their time and reimbursed his contractor for expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The losses to the bees\u2019 habitat and the larger strand ecosystem cannot be measured in monetary terms. The Department of Land and Natural Resources\u2019 proposed fine of more than $3 million is perhaps all the state can get, but it by no means makes the state whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent Editions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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April<\/a> <\/a>2026<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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March 2026<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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February 2026<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Cutting Losses The contested case hearing over the destruction of strand habitat for endangered yellow-faced bees has almost come to an end, nearly three years after the clearing event occurred. Landowner Sushil Garg has denied ever authorizing the work, yet … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8127,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7272","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7272"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17170,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7272\/revisions\/17170"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}