At the council’s March meeting, University of California at Santa Barbara professor Douglas McCauley briefed members on the potential threat deep sea mining poses to Hawai‘i’s pelagic fisheries. McCauley, who runs a website called Deep Sea Mining Watch, said mining could start occurring … Continued
Recent reports by the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) suggest that the pelagic population of false killer whales within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around Hawai‘i may be larger than was previously thought. Or it may be about … Continued
On February 28, Curt Cottrell, administrator for the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of State Parks, asked the Land Board for permission to hold public hearings on proposed fee increases for parking, entry, and facility uses. He noted … Continued
Nearly a year ago, the Board of Land and Natural Resources granted a 55-year easement and a right-of-entry permit to allow a non-profit group of Hanalei taro farmers to repair and maintain the ancient, pre-contact Hawaiian irrigation system that they rely on … Continued
Had Christopher Arai and his wife been made aware that short-term renting was not allowed at their beachfront house in South Kona, they wouldn’t have bought it, he wrote in a letter to the Board of Land and Natural Resources … Continued
At its February 14 meeting, the Board of Land and Natural Resources continued to levy fines against landowners in Kona who had been using their houses in the Conservation District as vacation rentals. The board fined Sheri Parish-Hamilton, who owns a beachfront … Continued
Last November, Wailuku Water Company (WWC) president Avery Chumbley told the Commission on Water Resource Management that his company doesn’t have enough money to make the kinds of improvements needed to better control the water flowing through the irrigation system he operates. … Continued
For years, Wailuku Water Company (WWC) has been trying to get Maui County to take over its irrigation system. Maui mayors have repeatedly included in their proposed budgets $9.5 million to purchase the company’s lands and infrastructure, but the County … Continued
Last year, when renewing several revocable permits to water users in the process of acquiring long-term leases from the Land Board, the DLNR’s Land Division reported that one longtime permittee was dropping out. The East Kaua‘i Water Users’ Cooperative, which … Continued
On January 24, the Land Board fined Caroline Killeen and her family trust $17,000 for using their oceanfront home in South Kona as a vacation rental for the last decade. Rules for the state Conservation District, in which the home … Continued