Koolaus may hold
wildlife refuge

The new Oahu Forest
National Wildlife Refuge could
encompass 28,000 acres

By Pete Pichaske
Phillips News Service

WASHINGTON -- Federal conservation officials are hoping to create a new wildlife refuge in Oahu's Koolau Mountains to protect endangered plants and animals and preserve a vanishing natural forest.

The Oahu Forest National Wildlife Refuge would be as large as 28,000 acres, making it by far the largest such preserve on Oahu.

"The proposed refuge has excellent potential to serve as an outdoor laboratory in ecology, conservation, and management due to its proximity to the University of Hawaii," said a statement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Also, "the refuge would provide opportunities for compatible outdoor recreation and public environmental education," it said.

The refuge would give sanctuary to a host of rare plant species and several endangered animal species, including the Oahu creeper, an extremely rare forest bird; the Hawaiian tree snail; and the Hawaiian hoary bat, the state's only native land mammal.

"This project is really important in terms of conservation," said Phyllis Ha, an ecologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Hawaii. "This is a beautiful native forest, within some of the best remaining forest areas (on Oahu). We want to get a management plan in place."

According to Barbara Maxfield, spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service in Hawaii, the Oahu Forest refuge is ranked sixth on the national priority list for refuges. "That's pretty high," she said.

Although carving out a protected wildlife refuge in the mountains near Mililani has been talked about for years, Fish and Wildlife officials stressed this week it is still far from reality. No official environmental assessment has been made, and, in fact, a deal with the landowners has not yet been worked out.

"We're still in the very preliminary stages," said Scott Wise, chief of the Acquisitions Branch for the Fish and Wildlife Service's Pacific Division.

Among the landowners he is negotiating with are Castle & Cook, the U.S. military, the Bishop Estate and the state of Hawaii.

Because negotiations are in an early stage, the precise size and location of the refuge are unknown. Wise estimated it would include at least 5,000 acres, while the Fish and Wildlife Service briefing statement says it could be up to 28,000 acres.

"We want to save what little forest there is left on Oahu," Wise said.

The refuge would also require various state approvals, and Ha predicted it would take at least a year before it is completed.

She said the Fish and Wildlife Service may hold open houses to discuss the refuge with nearby neighborhood boards.

According to Wise, Oahu is now home to two wildlife preserves: the James Campbell refuge, which consists of about 155 acres, and the Pearl Harbor refuge, which is even smaller.

Helicopter firms agree to stop overflights at Haleakala The pact may become part of FAA rules for national park lands By Gary Kubota Star-Bulletin WAILUKU -- Air tour operators on Maui and the National Park Service have reached an interim agreement banning overflights at Haleakala National Park. The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to take the recommendations and create a permanent rule for overflights in national parks. The pact calls for helicopters to remain outside the perimeter of Haleakala crater and fly a minimum of 500 feet above other park grounds, said Dave Chevalier, a tour operator and member of the group formulating the agreement. "I feel really happy about it," said Chevalier, the Maui director of the Hawaii Air Tour Association. "We want to be the good guys. We don't want conflict. We're willing to bend over backward to do it." He said the tour industry on Maui has been following these rules for the past three years. Part of the agreement allows tours to fly over the Waimoku Falls area on Park Service lands at Kipahulu. Don Reeser, Haleakala National Park superintendent, said it represents "a significant and positive step in recognizing intrinsic natural-quiet values over the national park."