Newsmaker
Monday, May 5, 1997
Name: Jack Jeffrey
Age: 49
Education: University of Guam
Occupation: U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist
Hobby: Wildlife photography
Give biologist Jack Jeffrey half a chance and he'll tell you how hundreds of thousands of sea birds used to nest on the slopes of Mauna Kea before rats, cats and mongooses attacked them. Refuge employee of the year
Most of the birds are gone now, and with them, the rain of droppings that fertilized native forests.
Jeffrey is eager to tell the story of how Fish and Wildlife is working to reverse the decline at the 33,000-acre Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, 6 to 16 miles north of Hilo.
That eagerness recently resulted in his being named nationwide National Wildlife Refuge employee of the year.
"Anyone who has been fortunate enough to participate in one of his forest bird hikes can testify to Jack's enthusiasm and professionalism," said Jerry Leinecke, manager of Hawaiian and Pacific Islands refuges.
The little-known Hakalau refuge is home to eight endangered birds and 12 endangered plants. Where many of the birds were previously known only through artist's illustrations, in the past decade Jeffrey has caught many in photos.
Eradicating wild cattle and pigs and poisoning plant pests like blackberries is reviving the forest, Jeffrey said. "The native plants will hold their own if you remove the problems," he said.
When Jeffrey was a kid in suburban Massachusetts, he was the guy who had the wild rabbit, climbed into trees for birds' nests and read books on bugs.
One of his Massachusetts high school teachers, referring to a place so remote it probably didn't exist, casually mentioned the University of Guam one day.
Jeffrey had never heard of Guam. But he eventually moved there with his parents, discovered Guam does have a university, and graduated from it 1969.
In 1974, he moved to Hilo. Despite an initial "boring, hot, dusty" job shoveling bagasse at a sugar mill, Jeffrey says, "I fell in love with the place."
Rod Thompson, Star-Bulletin
