The U.S. Department of Defense is working to amend a law to prohibit imposition of critical habitat designations for military bases in Hawai’i and across the nation that already comply with a military plan to protect endangered natural resources. On
The U.S. Department of Defense is working to amend a law to prohibit imposition of critical habitat designations for military bases in Hawai’i and across the nation that already comply with a military plan to protect endangered natural resources.
On Kaua’i, DOD officials will take the same stand against a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan to impose critical habitat designations for 177 acres at the Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility to protect endangered native plants, according to Agnes Tauyan, spokeswoman for Navy Region Hawai’i on O’ahu.
Implementation of the Fish and Wildlife plan could have negative impacts on national-security missions conducted at the Kaua’i base, and the military’s overall use of the base, Tauyan said.
A news report recently noted that parts of the military base are home to the lau ‘ehu (Panicum niihauense), an endangered bunchgrass.
Only 23 of the rare plants remain, and all live in the area, the report said.
In an e-mail, Tauyan said the protective designation by Fish and Wildlife for the plant, known also as “panicum,” is not necessary, “nor is it appropriate, because panicum is not present on PMRF.”
The gaggle of indigenous plants is located off the base, she said.
Military officials will not seek waivers to the Endangered Species Act or other laws protecting resources, in order to continue to use the base, Tauyan said.
Natural resources at the base, including endangered species protected by federal law, are managed under the federal government’s Integrated Natural Resource Management Plan, Tauyan said.
“We feel it (a critical-habitat designation) is not necessary, because we already have a good plan,” she said.
The plans for the conservation of natural resources on military properties nationwide are required by the Sikes Act, Tauyan said.
The protection plans were developed in cooperation with state wildlife agencies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the public, she said.
“We believe that they offer superior protection for species because they consider the base’s environment holistically, rather than using a very narrow, species-by-species analysis,” Tauyan said.
Unlike the process for the designation of critical habitats, the federal resource protection plan allows state regulators and the Fish and Wildlife Service to become involved in the protection of resources, she said.
By law, the plans must be reviewed every five years, providing a continuing opportunity for input by state and federal wildlife officials, Tauyan said.
The federal resource protection plan was “developed to ensure conservation measures with no net loss in capability to sustain the military mission,” Tauyan said.
“The INRMP (the federal resource protection plan) leaves no question how to sustain the military mission and protect natural resources, but this decision may constrain future military use of designated areas, and it leaves us unable to fully predict the effects,” she said.
Barbara Maxfield of the Fish and Wildlife Service on O’ahu said the plant species had grown on the base grounds in the past, but does not grow there now.
However, the plants still need the area for their recovery in the future, Maxfield said.
The federal agency had initially proposed critical-habitat designations for 99,000 acres for Kaua’i and Ni’ihau, the bulk of which were designated on Kaua’i.
Based on new information gathered during field visits by Fish and Wildlife Service staffers, the agency reduced the acreage for protection.
In March, the agency approved a plan declaring critical-habitat designations for 52,549 acres on Kaua’i and 375 acres on Ni’ihau.
The plan is aimed at protecting 83 threatened and endangered plants on the islands.
Most of the protective zones will be established on conservation land in the mountains of Kaua’i.
Fish and Wildlife officials have said the designations won’t affect activities on state or private lands unless a federal permit, license, or funding are involved.
Staff Writer Lester Chang can be reached at mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 225).
