Are minor actions permitted by the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR)— or any other state agency, for that matter — exempt from environmental review under the Hawai‘i Environmental Policy Act (HEPA)? A beach cleanup, a night of camping … Continued
The Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) seems willing to do almost anything to get its proposed pumped storage hydropower project along West Kaua‘i’s Koke‘e ditch system built. While not an original party to the water waste complaint and petition to … Continued
Koke`e Cabin Squatter Case Highlights DLNR’s Property Management Defects What happens when the state Department of Land and Natural Resources doesn’t have sufficient staff to properly manage its properties and permits? In 2015, agents on loan from the department’s Land Division … Continued
If all goes as planned, Lehua island, a 284-acre state-designated seabird sanctuary that’s less than a mile north of Ni`ihau, will be rat-free in the very near future. But that’s a big “if.” Among other things, the state Division of … Continued
In June 2011, Island Conservation eradicated rats on Palmyra atoll, which is located about 1,000 miles south of Hawai`i and is co-owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy. The company aerially broadcast the anticoagulant rodenticide … Continued
It’s too soon to say what the Lehua rat eradication/restoration project will ultimately look like, but public comment on its draft environmental assessment as of press time was minimal (only four comments) and mixed (two neutral, one supportive, one asking … Continued
At its February 14 meeting in Kona, after hours of testimony and discussion, the Commission on Water Resource Management denied a petition filed by the National Park Service (NPS) in September 2013 to designate the Keauhou aquifer system as a … Continued
A new technical report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) suggests that climate change-induced sea level rise over the course of this century, especially in Hawai`i, may be far worse than predicted in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate … Continued
For the fifth year in a row, bills intended to make it easier and cheaper for landowners to retain legally built shoreline structures that, through shoreline erosion, are now on public land have either been stalled or deferred. Senate Bill … Continued
Last August, the Board of Land and Natural Resources approved the continuation of all the revocable permits issued by the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, except those for the Honokohau small boat harbor … Continued