Briefings

posted in: August 1990 | 0

State Plans, A ‘Blueprint,’ and Much More

  • The Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Department of Land and Natural Resources, is setting up an Environmental Information Bureau. It will focus on subjects that relate to the Natural Area Reserves System but any useful environmental educational material would also be welcome. By early summer, DOFAW hopes to be able to make the inventory available to members of the public. If you have something to contribute, or want more information, call Ronald Walker, environmental educational coordinator for DOFAW, at 548-8850.
  • An environmental blueprint? Why not call it a greenprint? Whatever you call it, the Department of Health has set up a steering committee that is trying to develop a structural outline for an overall approach to dealing with the threats to Hawai’i’s environment. After the outline is more or less in place, members of the environmental community with expertise or interest in special areas will be asked to help flesh out the report. Some readers may recall a similar effort being made last fall, with brown-bag lunches in Director John Lewin’s office. Lewin and others are hoping that with more organization, this second try will yield better results. For more information, call Bob Grossmann, DOH at 548-6210 (O`ahu).
  • The Office of State Planning is currently coordinating revisions to the State Functional Plans. The draft plans are expected to be available for public review and comment in early July 1990, and public informational meetings will probably be held in late July. The functional plans are used to establish priorities for how the state will address major issues in these areas. For more information, call OSP at 548-3064 (O’ahu).
  • A lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund on behalf of the Sierra Club, Conservation Council for Hawai’i and Hawaiian Botanical Society, to compel the listing of Hawaiian candidate endangered plants was successfully settled out of court. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to increase and expedite listing efforts for these species.
  • The Hawai`i Ocean and Marine Resources Council, administered by the Ocean Resources Branch, Department of Business and Economic Development, is beginning to prepare Hawai`i’s Ocean Resources Management Plan. To encourage public participation in the plan’s development, a series of workshops will be held: June 20, at the Kane`ohe Public Library (O`ahu) June 21, at the Lihue Public Library (Kaua’i); June 21, at the McCully Public Library (O’ahu); June 26, at the Hilo Cooperative Extension Service Center (Hawai’i); June 27, at the King Kamehameha Hotel, in Kailua, Kona (Hawai`i); and June 28, at the Kahului Public Library (Maui). The public is urged to attend. For more information, call 956-8191 (O`ahu)
  • The Greenpeace flagship, Rainbow Warrior, will arrive in Honolulu the end of June. This ship is the replacement for the original Rainbow Warrior, which was bombed in Auckland Harbor by French secret service agents in 1985. Since leaving Australia in March, the Rainbow Warrior has made calls in Papeete, American Samoa and the Marshall Islands. From Hawai’i, it will set sail to the North Pacific, where it will peacefully confront driftnet fishing vessels.

Volume 1, Issue 1 July 1990