Click on graphic map for a larger view

HONOLULU, Hawaii – As the Board of Land and Natural Resources meets on Oahu today, one of the items on the agenda is a Department of Land and Natural Resources request to put a fence surrounding 900 acres of the Puu Waawaa Forest Reserve.

Protecting the valued watershed and dryland forest is part of the DLNR’s “The Rain Follows the Forest” plan to sustain Hawaii’s water sources. The fence will also protect critically endangered plants and animals by keeping ungulates out.

The proposed 900 acre fenced unit is adjacent to existing fenced units at Puu Waawaa (map above serves as Exhibit 1.) Portions of the new fenceline have already been completed.

The DLNR says the fencing project is exempt from having to prepare an environmental assessment and is asking the land board to agree.

The DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife will partner with other organizations to manage the fenced areas over the long term.