LIHUE — Come fall, the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge will be home to a seven-acre, fenced-off refuge for native plants and animals.
It will be the first predator-proof fencing system on Kauai, similar to the one found at Kaena Point on Oahu.
Construction is expected to start in early June, according to Jessica Behnke, an ecologist with Pacific Rim Conservation.
“U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is excited about this project because it’s a joint effort to help recover an endangered species, the Newell’s shearwater, whose numbers have dramatically declined on Kauai,” said Mike Mitchell, deputy project leader for the Kauai National Wildlife Refuge Complex. “This predator-proof fence will prevent non-native mammals from entering the area where we hope to establish, through translocation, a new nesting site for the Newell’s shearwater.”
Recently, USFWS announced the completion of the final Environmental Assessment for the Nihoku (Crater Hill) Ecosystem Restoration Project, which will be located east of the Kilauea lighthouse.
Mitchell described Wednesday’s news as a big step forward.
As detailed in the 172-page report, the project will not result in significant impacts to any affected resources. The USFWS prepared a Finding of No Significant Impact, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.
In addition to protecting native coastal plants, the fence would keep introduced predators — including cats, dogs, mongooses, rats and mice — out of the area so that native species like the moli (Laysan albatross) and endangered nene (Hawaiian goose) can flourish in a safe environment.
Once predators are trapped within the confined area, they will be removed, and the area will eventually serve as a translocation site.
The 6.5-foot-high, 2,388-foot-long green fence will be built on a sea-facing slope and enclose a 7.8-acre space following an existing road bed and natural landscape contours, to reduce visual impacts, according to a release. A small mesh skirt will prevent mice as young as two days old from entering the area and a rolled hood will keep larger predators from climbing over.
“It is hoped that the creation of a predator-free fenced unit will improve nesting success for nene and moli, facilitate natural re-colonization by other seabirds such as the ‘a or ‘ua‘u kani, and support future efforts to translocate the threatened ‘a‘o (Newell’s shearwater) and reintroduce rare and endangered plants,” Harrison wrote in the FONSI.
The project will cost approximately $500,000. Construction is expected to take three months.
“We’ll still have to do the eradication for several months after that,” Behnke said. “We’re going to be using a lot of different methods.”
During the 45-day public review period that began in September, USFWS received six comments, which expressed concerns over impacts to state water quality, public access to nearby sites and introduction and spread of invasive species, according to the FONSI.
The project is a collaboration between USFWS, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the American Bird Conservancy, the Kauai Endangered Seabird Recovery Project and Pacific Rim Conservation.
The final EA is available for public review at www.fws.gov/refuge/kilauea_point/.
