Concern Over Checker Reef Is Justified, DLNR Says

To the Editor:

I am responding to an editorial published in the July 1998 issue of Environment Hawai`i. The editorial dealt with concerns raised by a number of divisions in the Department of Land and Natural Resources about the movement of a second full-scale commercial operator to the area known as Checker Reef within Kane`ohe Bay (as called for in the Kane`ohe Bay Master Plan). Specifically, I would like to clarify the resource issues that sparked our concerns and to emphasize the fact that these concerns are real, not manufactured. Enclosed is an illustration of habitat differences between the commercial areas in the bay.