Kauaʻi Water Decision: On September 30, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court ruled that the state Board of Land and Natural Resources should not have denied contested case hearing requests by Kia‘i Wai O Wai‘ale‘ale and Friends of Māhāʻulepū over revocable permits … Continued
More than a year ago – September 2024 – the state Supreme Court issued a ruling on the question of whether short-term vacation rentals are allowed on land in the state Agricultural District. The answer was a resounding no. The … Continued
Meetings of the state Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity usually fly under the radar. Typical agendas include approval of low-interest loans of last resort for farmers, leases of land in state agricultural parks, and votes on recommendations by the department’s … Continued
Court Rebuke for BLNR: The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court has issued its ruling in the challenge brought by several Kauaʻi groups to the state Board of Land and Natural Resources’ issuance of a revocable permit to the seed company Syngenta Hawaiʻi, … Continued
The allocation of water in west Maui is a complicated issue. In 2022, the state Commission on Water Resource Management voted to designate both stream and surface waters as management areas, with all existing and new users required to apply … Continued
At the July 15 meeting of the Commission on Water Resource Management, commissioner Aurora Kagawa-Viviani was puzzled by a staff proposal to have the commission give its approval to proceed with development of a “first-generation” adaptive management plan for the … Continued
At the July 15 meeting of the Commission on Water Resource Management, director Ciara Kahahane provided a description of the funds available to support development of an Adaptive Management Plan for the Keauhou Aquifer Sector Area. There was an unspecified … Continued
Mala Wharf Remand: On July 28, the Intermediate Court of Appeals issued an order remanding to the 2nd Circuit Court a case involving the Board of Land and Natural Resources’ denial of a contested case hearing to groups and individuals … Continued
The 2025 legislative session did not pass many measures that addressed environmental issues. But of the several that did pass, and which Governor Green signed into law, probably the most significant is Act 96 (Senate Bill 1396). This, proponents say, … Continued
In a period of just over two decades, the population of palila, the endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper that feeds on the seed pods of māmane, has declined 89 percent. That is the sad conclusion of a recent published report by a … Continued