Mink upbraids
U.S. agency over
critical habitats

The congresswoman says the
proposals exceed the law's intent

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By Anthony Sommer
tsommer@starbulletin.com

LIHUE >> U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink ripped into the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service yesterday over the number of acres that have been proposed as critical habitats for endangered plants in Hawaii.

Almost 100,000 acres in Kauai County and 125,000 acres in Maui County have been proposed as critical-habitat areas. The number for Hawaii County has not yet been determined.

At a press conference on Kauai yesterday, Mink said she is considering introducing a bill that would place a "moratorium" on the Fish and Wildlife Service to bar it from following the 1998 order by U.S. District Judge Alan Kay to create the critical-habitat areas. When asked whether Congress ever has passed a bill telling an executive agency to ignore a federal court order, Mink said she would have to ask her staff to research the matter.

She said that what the federal agency is proposing was never the intent of the Endangered Species Act and that her opposition to it does not mar her "100 percent record" on environmental issues.

"This has nothing to do with the environment. It just defies common sense," said Mink (D-Rural Oahu, Neighbor Islands).

The Fish and Wildlife Service responded to Mink's criticism with a statement that the proposed areas were chosen by scientific studies. The agency has said the designation will affect only federal government projects and other programs using federal money.

Mink noted almost every state and county program uses funds, as do many private ventures.

She said a bill is moving through Congress that would require Fish and Wildlife to base critical-habitat designations on scientific studies, but even if passed, it would likely not affect Kay's ruling.

"The Fish and Wildlife Service has admitted they have not had the time to conduct a scientific study and are only responding to deadlines set by the court," Mink said.

She said the area on Kauai has grown from 33,000 acres to 60,000 acres to almost 100,000 acres. On Maui, she said, critical habitat has been designated for plants that the Fish and Wildlife Service knows are extinct.

"It blows my mind," she said.

Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Barbara Maxfield said the proposals, which still must be approved by the Interior Department, stemmed from studies by a group of scientists made up of the Hawaii and Pacific Plant Recovery Coordinating Council, historical habitats for endangered species and numerous databases on plant growth.

Maxfield said the reason the acreage increased is because the original acreage was based on where the plants now exist. The expanded area includes places where the plants once grew but now have been destroyed.

"We carefully selected the areas we are proposing," she said.