HONOLULU – The cancellation of a decades-long set-aside of land from the state of Hawaii to the County of Kauai has paved the way for Kauai’s renowned forest bird and seabird recovery and protection programs to move into a joint facility.
This week, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR), approved Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami’s request to cancel Governor’s Executive Order (EO) 4045. The first EO, in 1955, was issued to the county as the Hanapepe Dog Pound site.
The Kauai Humane Society utilized the property for 46 years and subsequently, in 2015, the BLNR approved the use of the premises for Hawaiian stewardship programs.
In the DLNR Land Division submittal to the land board, Kawakami indicated the site is no long being used for stewardship and while the county has tried to maintain it and fenced it off, squatters have moved in. The county will remove the squatters and their personal effects before the cancellation takes effect.
The property will be utilized for the benefit of the University of Hawai at Manoa, College of Natural Sciences, Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit (PCSU) on behalf of the Kauai Forest Bird Recovery Project (KFBRP), the Kauai Endangered Seabird Recovery Project (KESRP), and the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii (RCUH). The term of the no-cost lease is 25 years.
Dr. Shaya Honarvar, PCSU director and principal investigator for KFBRP and KESRP, said, “Our mission is to protect and restore Hawaii’s native species, ecosystems and cultural resources. The forest bird and seabird recovery projects on Kauai epitomize this mission by combining research and conservation of federally and state protected native birds, some of which would already be extinct without the intervention of the project’s talented and dedicated teams.”
From the BLNR submission, “Due to the recent dramatic declines in forest bird populations on Kauai and new advances in technologies to address their primary threat, mosquito-borne diseases, KFBRP’s budget and staff have recently increased almost two-fold. KFBRP has outgrown the small commercial real estate property it has rented since 2011. Meanwhile, KESRP has been occupying a small container at the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) base yard but needs to find a permanent home.”
Dr. Lisa “Cali” Crampton, KFBRP project leader, said, “This allows us to share staff knowledge and skills more easily. A major synergy will be having space for cross-training, not only with our seabird partners, but also with our DLNR colleagues. There are many overlaps between various types of avian research and conservation, so bweing together provides great learning opportunities.”
The property is very close to where DLNR/DOFAW is developing a Westside base yard. DOFAW Kauai Branch Manager Sheri S. Mann said, “We hope to break ground in the next six months. The proximity of these projects, who we already collaborate with frequently, is going to enhance our shared endangered bird protection mission.”
“With the extinction crisis we’re facing, having a shared baseyard will allow us to streamline field operations, share equipment, vehicles and other resources. Having a united front allows us to expand our outreach to the community. It’s not just about doing the critical conservation work — it’s about showing how important our native species are to the health of our ecosystems and the cultural heritage that makes our island so special,” said Dr. Julia Diegmann, KFBRP planner.
