State wants to expand
wetland bird refuge

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Star-Bulletin staff

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is looking to acquire and expand the Hawaiian water bird habitat it manages near Kahuku.

The James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge is on two parcels totaling 164 acres that have been leased since 1976 from the Campbell Estate. With a $1.8 million appropriation from Congress, Fish and Wildlife would like to purchase the two parcels and acquire as much as 160 acres of adjacent land.

The refuge provides a haven to endangered native water birds -- the Hawaiian stilt, coot, moorhen and duck, which reside there year-round, and migratory birds that come through every winter, according to Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Barbara Maxfield.

Few large wetland habitats remain on Oahu, Maxfield said. There are two near Pearl Harbor and a handful of smaller habitats on the Windward side. Expanding the Campbell refuge would protect the freshwater marsh, and permanent and seasonal wetlands.

"It's really important if we want to recover these endangered Hawaiian water birds. There isn't enough habitat that is managed as refuge," she said. "Our ultimate goal is to recover the species and take them off the endangered species list."

Other activities at the refuge include controlling alien plants and predators, monitoring wildlife, managing wetland levels to benefit water birds and leading tours during nonbreeding seasons.

The adjacent parcel has an upland area that Maxfield said could be used for a visitor center, refuge headquarters or a maintenance facility, but no development has been planned.

Theresia McMurdo, public relations manager for Campbell Estate, said there have been no substantive negotiations regarding the acquisition yet. "We have been informed of the interest, but no formal negotiations have taken place. It's too early to comment on any details," she said.