Kaua‘i hunters have butted heads with conservationists for many years over hunting in wilderness areas on Kaua‘i where federally protected, endangered plants and game animals live.
Representatives of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are hoping to mend ways between the two groups.
In an effort to reduce the conflicts between hunting programs and endangered-species protection, the agency will make available funds to implement habitat-restoration and protection actions across the state.
The funding is available through the Hawai‘i ESA (Endangered Species Act) Community Conservation Initiative.
The program is designed to engage landowners and community groups in the implementation of conservation actions to benefit endangered and threatened and federally listed species, agency officials said.
The Kaua‘i public meeting is this Friday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
Craig Rowland, a conservation partnerships coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office on O‘ahu, said the project’s intent is twofold.
The first intent is to “improve hunting opportunities, which should result in a lessening of interest in preserving game animals in areas with vulnerable endangered species,” Rowland said.
The second is to “increase the endangered-species population in appropriate areas to reduce regulation of hunting activities,” Rowland said.
A project that could work on Kaua‘i would involve opening access to a landlocked area for hunters, for instance, Rowland said.
“If game animals are in there and they aren’t being reduced by hunters, they will be,” Rowland said.
By allowing hunters into such an area, the population of game animals that may trample or eat endangered plant species would be controlled, Rowland said.
Conservationists probably would approve of the hunting activity, because the game-animal population would be controlled, resulting in the stabilization and growth of endangered-plant populations, thus strengthening the species line, Rowland said.
Fencing could be used for other projects, but using it would depend “on the resources we are looking at,” Rowland said.
Kaua‘i hunters have voiced their aversion to installing fences around choice hunting areas in Koke‘e to protect endangered-plant species.
A plan by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to put a fence around some 500 acres of choice hunting area in Koke‘e last year drew heavy opposition from hunters.
The project was intended to protect endangered plants whose numbers had dwindled because of the grazing habits of game animals.
Gina Shultz, acting field supervisor of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office, expressed optimism for the new project.
“The challenge is great, but with the help of this program, we hope to encourage working partnerships between hunters and conservationists that accommodate both interests. The ‘aina or land is for the enjoyment of all, and it is the responsibility of all Hawaiians to work together to protect the islands and their wildlife,” Shultz said.
Hunters and conservationists will automatically line up in different camps on the issue, but officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are optimistic solutions can be worked out.
“Although there are significant disagreements between hunters and conservationists, there are also important common goals for land management,” said Benton Pang, fish and wildlife biologist with the service’s conservation partnerships program.
“Additionally, both sides realize that endangered-species recovery will ultimately mean less regulation and more flexibility,” Pang said.
Programs set up last year included the Humu‘ula access trail-improvement plan for hikers and hunters on the Big Island; restoration of native habitats through fencing and native-plant propagation in the Kahikinui Forest Reserve on Maui; and support of pig hunting and habitat protection through fencing in the Kahakuloa Game Management Area on Maui, U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials said.
Rowland said he was not aware of any Kaua‘i folks who had come forward with proposals at this time.
Shultz thanked U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawai‘i, for his efforts to secure money for the program now in its third year.
“2004 marks the third year of funding for this important initiative,” Shultz said.
Last year, the program focused on the islands of Hawai‘i, Maui, Moloka‘i and Lana‘i, resulting in 19 funded projects. This year, the program will expand to include Kaua‘i and O‘ahu, Shultz said.
This year, Congress has appropriated $700,000 for the expanded project, Rowland said.
Project proposals will be taken at the public meetings, or they may be sent to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Honolulu office at 300 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 3-122, Box 50088, Honolulu, HI 96850.
The deadline for submissions is Friday, April 30. For more information, please contact Pang at 1-808-792-9400 or e-mail him at benton_pang@fws.gov.
Staff Writer Lester Chang may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net.
