From the Editor's Desk
The Land Board Shuts Out the Public Assume, for the moment, that the public has a right to know what the agencies that control resources it owns do with those resources. You might want to have a law, say, that … Continued
E Ho‘omau I Ke Ola
Wekiu Mauna Kea, kuahiwi ku ha’o i ka malie. Mauna Kea, standing alone in the calm. ‘Olelo No’eau Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings, by Mary Kawena Pukui (1983) Mauna Kea is prominent in Hawaiian cultural and natural history. When measured … Continued
Lawsuits Dispute Pflueger Claim to Pila'a Property
“I bought a piece of property and I improved it. Nobody wanted it when I bought it. My own daughter said it’s the worst piece of property she ever saw and I made the biggest mistake of my life,” said … Continued
Coal Ash Pile on Hilo Coast Keeps Growing, With No End In Sight
Wednesday, February 26, 2 a.m. The Little Annou, a Maltese-registered freighter, pulls into the Port of Hilo. The hatches to its huge holds open and its cranes unfold. The first of dozens of freight trucks that are queued up along … Continued
Talking Story With DLNR Chief Peter Young
Peter Young, the new director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, recently granted interviews to Environment Hawai`i editor Patricia Tummons and staff writer Teresa Dawson. Here are excerpts: What are your goals, your vision for the department? As … Continued
ARCHIVES OF THE HAWAIIAN FOREST
Protecting Plants, When It’s Convenient In celebrating 2003 as the Year of the Hawaiian Forest, Environment Hawai`i is reprinting historical records that depict changes in its forested landscape over the last two centuries. This month’s selection is taken from minutes … Continued
Sugar Goes Under, Corals Come Back
It may seem counter-intuitive to imagine that a coal-fired power plant is more beneficial to sea life than a sugar mill. But in the years since Hilo Coast Processing Company stopped using bagasse and started using coal, corals in the … Continued
Board Talk
Board Makes its Choice for Maui Wind Power Developer “This is Matt,” Land Division administrator Dierdre Mamiya told the Board of Land and Natural Resources, motioning toward a bespectacled young man to her right. And, she added, contrary to what … Continued
Permit Hurdles, Litigation Drag Down Plan to Log Koa in Forest Near Hilo
In the lush hills above Pauka’a, near Hilo, an ancient forest grows undisturbed, drenched by more than 200 inches of rain a year. Perched on the eastern slope of Mauna Kea, this submontane rainforest produces commercially valuable timber and sustains … Continued