Latest news with #DepartmentofLandandNaturalResources
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
Hawaii officials stress outdoor safety for Memorial Day weekend
HONOLULU (KHON2) — With Memorial Day weekend here, many residents and visitors are expected to head outdoors to enjoy Hawaii's scenic — and sometimes hazardous — natural areas. Kapaa Bypass Road upgrades cause temporary closure State officials are urging everyone to stay safe while exploring trails, beaches, and ocean spots over the holiday Chris Latronic went live from Kewalo Basin Park, where he spoke with Jason Redulla, enforcement chief for the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), about outdoor safety and what people should keep in mind before heading out. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news Redulla stressed the importance of preparation, awareness of surroundings, and following posted safety signs and regulations. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
Diamond Head closures next month for rockfall mitigation
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Visitors planning a hike up Diamond Head next month will want to double-check their calendars. The popular Oahu landmark will see additional full-day closures in June as crews continue rockfall mitigation work. Earthquake off Kau Coast bears no tsunami threat The state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) announced that Diamond Head State Monument will be closed to the public from June 17–20 and June 24–27. During those dates, no visitor access will be allowed into the park, including the summit trail. The closures are part of an ongoing safety project led by the Division of State Parks, aimed at reducing the risk of rockfalls in the heavily visited employees will still have limited access via the Kapahulu Tunnel from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. during closure days, and a security guard will be stationed at the tunnel entrance. On Monday, June 16 and June 23, the park will operate under partial closure hours from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. For the rest of the month, the park will follow its regular schedule: weekday closures at 2 p.m. and weekend closures at 6 p.m. DLNR officials thanked both residents and tourists for their patience as the project moves forward, emphasizing that the end goal is to make Diamond Head safer for everyone. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news The work is expected to wrap up by July 25, 2025. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
This ancient practice is rebuilding Maui's future: Here's how Lāhainā's reclaiming its forests
HONOLULU (KHON2) — From mountain peaks to coral reefs, Hawai'i's natural systems are deeply connected. The ʻāina (land), wai (water), holoholona (animals) and kānaka (people) rely on each other to survive. That idea isn't new. Native Hawaiian practices have honored those connections for generations. But today, groups across the islands, including the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), are putting that knowledge to work in powerful ways. One major effort is happening on Maui, where the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW), along with local nonprofits and volunteers, is helping bring life back to native forests that once shaped rainfall, fed watersheds and supported entire communities. Here's what you should know about the work and why it matters. Healthy forests play a major role in collecting rain. That rain seeps into the ground and becomes the water we use every day. But if the forest is overrun with invasive weeds or rooted out by wild animals, it doesn't work the same. The West Maui watershed, stretching from Honokōwai to Honokōhau, covers more than 9,000 acres of land. The land used to be part of a pineapple plantation. Now, thanks to a conservation easement with Maui Land and Pineapple Company, it's being restored by Aloha Puʻu Kukui and The Nature Conservancy, with support from DOFAW. 'You can't just manage one part of it,' said John Meier, president of Aloha Puʻu Kukui. 'You have to manage the whole, from the peak all the way to the ocean. They're all connected. If you want the ocean to be healthy, the mountain above it has to be healthy.' Not all trees are created equal. Native Hawaiian plants like koa and a'ali'i support the watershed and keep the soil in place. Invasive species like Guinea grass and ironwood do the opposite. They spread quickly, use up resources and don't hold the same value for native animals or the land. At one site in West Maui, volunteers removed invasive plants and planted koa. Meier pointed to a small koa sapling and said, 'This area used to be all invasive weeds and ironwood trees. Now it's going to be koa and a'ali'i forest.' It can take years to see progress; but with time and care, the land year, Kula Kaiapuni 'o Lahainaluna, the ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi language immersion program at Lahainaluna High School, joined the effort. Students come to the forest, begin with pule and work with their hands in the dirt by weeding, digging, planting, learning. 'It's very important,' said student Aina Kapu. 'Because here in Hawai'i, this is where we come from, this is where we stand. This is where we expand our ʻike, our kuleana and our kūpuna did this for thousands of years, and we just want to repeat that same thing.' Kaliko Kalani Teruya added, 'ʻĀina momona [care for the land], choke plants make the rain come more often. ʻĀina momona: So, we can sustain and protect our native forest.' Pomaikaʻi Kaniaupio-Crozier, director of Conservation at Aloha Puʻu Kukui, leads many of the on-the-ground efforts. He works with school groups, nonprofits and other community members to make the restoration possible. 'Having the connection of Hawaiian reforestation and stewardship is really that pilina, that connection of what it takes to mālama, what it takes to be connected,' Kaniaupio-Crozier said. These projects are not quick fixes. They rely on people willing to show up year after year to build something lasting. While DLNR provides the structure and oversight for Hawai'i's land and water resources, much of the restoration work is possible because of collaboration. Groups like Aloha Puʻu Kukui and The Nature Conservancy bring their own experience; and landowners like Maui Land and Pineapple Company contribute through conservation agreements. Kaniaupio-Crozier said, 'We're very pleased. Maui Land and Pineapple Company and the Puʻu Kukui watershed, in collaboration with the DLNR, TNC, and Aloha Puʻu Kukui. It's nice to see community rally around any landscape, but especially a landscape like Honolua.' After the devastating Lāhainā fire, the work of restoring native forests carries even deeper meaning. 'Our forest in Lahaina was destroyed, and it was devastating,' said Kaniaupio-Crozier. 'But it's also an opportunity now, moving forward.' Volunteers are replanting native species using seeds that have been in those areas for thousands of years. The idea is not just to restore the forest, but to reconnect people to the knowledge and values passed down from their kūpuna. 'They're not doing it for a brochure,' he said. 'They're doing it because they're walking in the footsteps of their ancestors as kupa o ka ʻāina of these areas.' This year has been named 'The Year of the Community Forests' by Governor Josh Green, M.D. But what makes a forest 'community' isn't just who plants it. It's who carries its story. Kaniaupio-Crozier put it this way: 'It's a humbling thing to touch ʻāina, to care for ʻāina in places like this. We know our kūpuna and ke akua, that he puts us in places for reasons, not to just pass through, but to make that ʻāina momona.' That's what this work is really about: restoring the ʻāina (land), protecting the wai (water) and remembering that kānaka (people) and place are part of the same system. When you take care of one, you take care of both. Learn more about DLNR programs and how to get involved in forest restoration click . Get news on the go with KHON 2GO, KHON's morning podcast, every morning at 8 You don't need a degree or experience to be kuleana. All you need is a willingness to mālama ʻāina. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Yahoo
Hawaii doctor accused of trying to kill his wife on a hiking trail denied bail
A judge on Tuesday denied a Maui anesthesiologist's request to be released on bail while he fights an attempted murder charge on allegations that he tried to kill his wife on a Honolulu hiking trail. Gerhardt Konig previously pleaded not guilty. His wife wrote in a petition for a temporary restraining order against him that they were hiking in Honolulu in March when he grabbed her, pushed her toward the edge of a cliff, attempted to inject her with a syringe and then bashed her head with a rock. Konig suggested they go on the hike while the couple were on a trip to celebrate the wife's birthday, the petition said. In denying the motion for bail, Judge Paul Wong said there's evidence that Konig hid from police, presents a serious flight risk and is a danger to the victim. She has since filed for divorce. An attorney representing her is asking a judge to withhold the divorce case, filed earlier this month, from the public to protect the privacy of the couple's young children and because of the 'significant and arguably intrusive media coverage regarding the underlying events which precipitated this divorce.' The Associated Press does not name people who are victims of domestic violence unless they consent to be identified or decide to tell their stories publicly. What is known as 'Pali Puka' trail is closed because the route is unsafe, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources said. Hikers often enter through a small clearing near a popular lookout point that offers stunning views despite a warning: 'Area Closed! Do not go beyond this sign.' At one point, Konig grabbed her by her upper arms and started pushing her toward the cliff's edge while yelling that he was sick of her, she said. They began wrestling, and she screamed and pleaded for him to stop, fearing for her life, the petition said. During the struggle, she said he took a syringe from his bag and tried to inject her with something. She said that she bit his arm in an attempt to defend herself. He appeared to calm down, but then grabbed a nearby rock and 'began bashing me repeatedly on the head with it,' she said. Konig's wife suffered major cuts to her head — from the jagged, softball-sized lava rock — and required surgery, prosecutors said. While the couple were in Oahu, the two young sons stayed home on Maui with a nanny and family, according to the wife's petition filed in family court. A judge signed an order saying Konig must stay away from her and their children. Prosecutors, in opposing the bail request, said Konig 'faces a realistic prospect of life imprisonment.' He tried to flee after the attack and called his adult son, who he told he 'tried to kill your stepmom' and told him he would turn off his phone so that police could not locate him, prosecutors said in a court filing. He also hid in the bushes until nightfall, even though the attack happened in the morning, and led police on a search, prosecutors said. When he was apprehended, he said, 'Wait, she's not dead?' according to prosecutors. Defense attorney Thomas Otake called it a 'very small rock' and argued doctors said there wasn't a substantial risk of death or a concussion from the wife's injuries. During Tuesday's hearing, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joel Garner said Konig was stashing lethal drugs at home, tried three different ways to kill his wife and has ties to South Africa, where he was born. The petition for a restraining order said that in December, Konig accused his wife of having an affair. In a court document filed Monday, prosecutors said Konig was storing at home syringes, needles and vials labeled anesthesia medication. On March 27, a few days after the alleged attack and when his wife was preparing to fly back to Honolulu for his grand jury proceedings, she discovered a fanny pack belonging to her husband that contained several syringes and several vials of what appeared to be drugs, the filing said. 'That's not unusual that a doctor who practices medicine would have drugs,' Otake said, noting that none of the drugs were found on Oahu where the attack took place. Konig has been held without bail since his indictment on March 28. In a motion seeking 'bail at a reasonable amount,' his defense attorneys said Konig, 46, has no prior criminal convictions. In court, Otake suggested bail between $100,000 and $200,000, arguing that while the divorce is pending he doesn't have access to marital assets. Otake said his client intends to go to trial: 'This is going to be a 'he said, she said' trial.' Editor's Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with intimate partner violence, there are resources available, including the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Kokua Line: How many feral cats live on Oahu?
Question : Does anybody know how many feral cats there are on Oahu ? Does anybody count them ? Sadly, we see cats that have been hit by cars, which upsets my children. There is a colony in our area, and the lady who feeds them does keep track of them and gets them fixed, but she has no idea how many cats there are on the rest of the island. Answer : A precise number is not known, but the state Department of Land and Natural Resources has cited an estimate of 196, 227 to 265, 179 feral cats on Oahu, based on information from Nene Research and Conservation, a Big Island-based nonprofit organization that has mapped more than 900 cat colonies across the state, according to its website, Locations of specific colonies are not publicly disclosed, to prevent cats from being abused ; the detailed mapping is used to manage the cat colonies and to protect wildlife habitats threatened by the cats, the website says. The Hawaiian Humane Society says on its website that 'O 'ahu has a large and visible population of free-roaming cats, ' but doesn't specify a number. The nonprofit, which supports Trap-Neuter-Return-Manage to reduce the population over time, has a call-out for volunteers to help with the many newborns it receives this time of year. It says on its website, at /kitten, 'Join our trained force of neonate foster volunteers that we affectionately call the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee !' Meanwhile, the DLNR announced Friday that a long-sought cat sanctuary is one step closer to becoming a reality on Oahu, where stray cats could live safely and securely behind cat-proof fencing, without threatening the health of native birds, marine mammals and other wildlife elsewhere on the island—and without being harmed themselves, by motor vehicles, cruel acts and lack of food or water. The success of the Lanai Cat Sanctuary helped pave the way for the Oahu project, which is in the very early stages. The Honolulu nonprofit organization Popoki Place () 'received approval from the state Board of Land and Natural Resources to begin conducting due diligence to use 20 acres of land on O 'ahu's North Shore for the island's first sanctuary for feral and homeless cats, ' the DLNR said in a news release. Popoki Place was granted a three-month right of entry next to the former Crawford Convalescent Home to determine whether the agriculture-zoned property is suitable for use as a cat sanctuary, the news release said, noting that the ROE is for due-diligence activities such as research, data collection, surveys and mapping—it 'does not allow for any construction or ground-disturbing activities.' Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. If the location is viable, the nonprofit must comply with environmental laws (Chapter 343 ) and other rules before returning to the BLNR to request a lease from the state, the news release said. The proposed sanctuary would include fenced enclosures, a spay-neuter medical clinic, caretaker housing, a visitor center, parking, utilities and an approved wastewater system. Popoki Place Oahu Cat Sanctuary 'will have multiple large enclosures surrounded by secure fencing in a lush setting. Cats will feel like they are free-roaming but cannot escape the enclosure and will have all of their needs met, ' according to the the nonprofit's website, which says it would focus on housing cats that previously lived near protected habitat. BLNR Chair Dawn Chang 'expressed a willingness to consider use of state public lands for a cat sanctuary that could be available to house cat colonies found near sensitive coastal and forest reserves, ' where cats threaten endangered species, the news release said. 'Cats impact protected wildlife by direct predation and by spreading a deadly disease, Toxoplasmosis. The sanctuary would provide a win-win for the welfare of feral cats and native wildlife.' Q : Is there a place to take a dead bird to be tested for bird flu ? We found a dead bird at the edge of our yard with no signs of being mauled by a larger animal and no other visible source of harm. The remains are securely packaged, and we will dispose of them with other waste products but are also wondering if any office or authority should be asked. A : Here's what the state Department of Health says on its website : 'Do not touch sick or dead birds. Residents are encouraged to report sick or dead birds, especially when multiple or unusual. Please contact Animal Industry Division at Hawaii Department of Agriculture at 808-483-7102 during Monday to Friday from 7 :45 a.m. to 4 :30 p.m., or 808-837-8092 during non-business hours and holidays.' For more information, go to.------------Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813 ; call 808-529-4773 ; or email.------------
