Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink will introduce a House bill by the end of the month that will require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to do some extra paperwork and research before critical habitat designations can take effect in Hawai’i.
Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink will introduce a House bill by the end of the month that will require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to do some extra paperwork and research before critical habitat designations can take effect in Hawai’i.
If the bill passes, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be required to publish a recovery plan for each endangered species for which a critical habitat is being proposed. These recovery plans would then be reviewed by a panel of scientists appointed by the National Academy of Science.
“We’re just saying, ‘Before you finalize and set aside land for an endangered species… we want to see the plan,’ ” Mink said Tuesday in call to her office in Washington D.C.
The recovery plans will go with what is already stated in the law, Mink said. The plans must state what is required in the site for the species to recover and ultimately be taken off the endangered species list.
Before the Hawai’i critical habitat designations are finalized, an economic impact review must be completed. This review has not been done for any of the endangered plants in Hawai’i, but is not part of Mink’s bill because it is already required under the Endangered Species Act.
“There are still a lot of steps they (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) have to follow,” Mink said. – TGI Staff Writer Kendyce Manguchei can be reached at kmanguchei@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 252).
