The Department of Land and Natural Resources, the state’s first line of defense against environmental and ecological depredations, has been hit hard over the last two years with blows to its budget. In light of the serious budget shortfalls that … Continued
Kona Blue Escapes Fine for Pen’s Coral Damage Fining a company for damaging coral inside a boat harbor just didn’t seem fair. So instead of imposing the $6,750 fine its staff had recommended, the state Board of Land and Natural … Continued
Planning is a good thing. And the 15-year Comprehensive Conservation Plan for the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge is, by our lights, a pretty good one. But the thing about planning is this: it should never undercut its own viability. … Continued
Land Board Fines Eco-Tour Company for Cutting Trail in Conservation District Sam Lemmo couldn’t believe what he was hearing. KapohoKine Adventures, LLC, was arguing that it cut a trail through the Conservation District in Honoli`i, Hawai`i, merely to allow neighboring … Continued
On June 14, U.S. District Judge David Ezra denied without prejudice the Hawai`i Longline Association’s (HLA) appeal of a January settlement between the National Marine Fisheries Service and environmental groups regarding interactions between the shallow-set longline fishery and threatened loggerhead … Continued
Tropic Land, LLC has failed to persuade enough members of the state Land Use Commission to approve a boundary amendment allowing for the company’s proposed light industrial park in Lualualei Valley in West O`ahu. On April 21, the LUC voted … Continued
“I’m sure there will be a next time,” said David Swatland of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. At last month’s meeting of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) Marine Ecosystem Reserve Advisory Council, Swatland described some of the lessons learned from … Continued
Last November 30, Moloka`i Properties Ltd., owner of almost all of the assets of the now defunct Moloka`i Ranch, petitioned the Land Use Commission to designate 4,919 (later amended to 5,203) acres of ranch land in West Moloka`i as important … Continued
Since the Legislature passed a measure giving landowners incentives to protect important agricultural lands in 2008, the state Land Use Commission has been presented with a total of five IAL petitions. In the first two years after passage of Act … Continued
Alone among Hawai`i’s four counties, Kaua`i is hard at work on developing maps indicating its most important agricultural lands. O`ahu, Maui, and Hawai`i have yet to leave the starting gate, when it comes to developing the “inclusive process for public … Continued