July 2008

Kona Conservation: On June 6, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources announced that it had accepted a $1.968 million dollar grant from the U.S. Forest Legacy Program to help complete the purchase of a perpetual conservation easement over … Continued

On June 10, to streamline its contracting process and to ratify current practices, the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai`i Authority board granted the power to execute a variety of documents to administrator Ron Baird. Personnel: With regard to personnel matters, … Continued

Last year, the state Legislature authorized up to $10 million in special purpose revenue bonds to help Sopogy build a solar-energy plant at Keahole, Kona, on state land administered by the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai`i Authority. That cleared the … Continued

According to Mike Dworsky, Hawai`i County’s director of solid waste, on an average day, the West Hawai`i landfill at Pu`uanahulu takes in from 380 to 400 tons of refuse. For each ton delivered, haulers pay a tipping fee of $85. … Continued

A dream, or a nightmare? A visionary solution to Hawai`i’s growing problems of rubbish and oil dependency? Or a pie-in-the-sky proposal, completely untethered from reality? Those were among the conflicting views of a proposal that recently came before the board … Continued

Opponents of the planned introduction of a biocontrol agent for strawberry guava have raised several arguments. Here are the top concerns, along with the responses from scientists with the Forest Service, the USDA Agricultural Research Service, and others: • The … Continued

Controversy Flares Over Proposal to Control Waiawi with Scale Insect The proposed release of a scale insect to control strawberry guava, or waiawi (Psidium cattleianum), has sparked an outcry of opposition among some sectors of the public. Yet, although the … Continued

<b>Old `Ohi`a:</b> Pat Hart thinks he may have found the oldest broadleaf trees in the Northern Hemisphere – right in his back yard. More than a decade ago, Hart, a professor of biology at the University of Hawai`i – Hilo, … Continued