Bette Midler cut
down more than 230 trees without a permit around one of
her properties on the island of Kauai, and the state has
recommended she be fined.
The staff of the
Board of Land and Natural Resources recommended $6,500
in fines for having the trees felled and for building a
graded road on land zoned for conservation use without
required permits.The singer and actress will pay the
fines and will follow a replanting program, her
attorney Max W. J. Graham said.
Midler, who was
born in Honolulu, didn't realize permits were needed to
remove the trees on a vacant 58,000-square-foot parcel of
land on Kauai's North Shore, Graham said.
''The whole idea
with cutting the trees down was with the idea of
improving the lot with native species'' instead of the
nonnative, invasive species that had grown there,
Graham said. ''It's unfortunate that a mistake was
made.'' The National Tropical Botanical Garden, which
maintains three gardens on Kauai, will design a replanting
plan with appropriate native plants, Graham said.
A botanist hired
by Midler after the fact said 120 Java plum trees, 100
octopus trees, and 10 to 20 Madagascar olive trees that were
cut down were all nonnative species. Some native trees
also were removed from the property, the botanist
said. Midler, known for her longtime commitment to the
environment, was once known as the Compost Queen and
appeared on billboards in Los Angeles advocating green
recycling containers for yard trimmings.
Midler is set to
replace Celine Dion as a headline performer at Las
Vegas's renovated Caesars Palace next year. (AP)
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