Hawaii tops nation in
extinctions, report says

A federal agency is accused
of failing to protect species

On the list

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By Ron Staton
Associated Press

Nearly half of the 114 species that have become extinct in the first 20 years of the federal Endangered Species Act were in Hawaii, according to a new report by an advocacy group.

The report by the Center for Biological Diversity says the federal government's failure to protect species "has been spectacular," and accuses the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of knowingly delaying listings "to avoid political controversy even when it knew the likely result would be the extinction of the species."

A statement from the Fish and Wildlife Service said the agency "denies the inflammatory claim" and challenged the accuracy of the report. It said recovery of species is a very long process. At the time the act was passed in 1973, some species were in such bad shape the agency could not recover them, according to the agency.

The service said funding has been limited because of litigation over critical habitat, and noted that fish and wildlife habitat has been declining for decades because of urbanization.

The report released Wednesday said "the number (of extinct species) is shocking and indicates a grave failure in federal management of the nation's most powerful environmental law."

A co-author of the report said that with so many unique species, Hawaii faces the worst problem in the country.

The 52 species lost from the islands include the large Kauai thrush, which once was the most common bird on the island; the Molokai thrush, which was endemic to Molokai; and 11 species of Oahu tree snails.

Only 19 percent of the extinctions involved species on the endangered list, showing that the 1973 law is working -- at least for species that make the list, said Kieran Suckling, the center's executive director and a co-author of the report.

"But species known to be endangered were stuck in bureaucratic delay and went extinct before they had a chance to be listed," Suckling said. "That should never have happened."

Nearly all the species could have been saved if the Endangered Species Act had been properly managed, fully funded and "shielded from political pressure," he said.

Hawaii is unique not only for the number of species on the list, but because state law requires that every species placed on the list is automatically added to a state list, said Michael Buck, administrator of the Forestry and Wildlife Division of the state Department of Land & Natural Resources, which works with the Fish and Wildlife Service.

He acknowledged, however, that "just getting something on the list does not save endangered species." The No. 1 issue for Hawaii, Buck said, is "coming up with resources and public support."

California was the next-highest state in the report with 11 extinctions. Guam had eight, while Alabama and Texas each had seven.

Fifteen of Hawaii's extinct species were terrestrial snails, 13 each were flowering plants and insects, eight were birds and three were moths.

Birds accounted for all but two of the extinctions on the U.S. territory of Guam, where the bird population already had been devastated by the brown tree snake and other predators.

The four-angled pelea, a flowering plant endemic to Kauai, is an example of a species being lost by inaction, Suckling said.

The Fish and Wildlife Service became aware it was endangered in 1975 when the Smithsonian petitioned to have it listed, he said.

The following year, the agency said it would propose adding it to the list, but when nothing happened, the Smithsonian re-petitioned in 1978, he said.

In 1980 the Fish and Wildlife Service agreed the plant was endangered but put it on the candidate list, Suckling said. In 1994 the agency listed it as endangered, but it had become extinct in 1991, he said.

"The extinction crisis in Hawaii is worse than anywhere else," Suckling said. "We believe the Fish and Wildlife Service should have no higher job than preventing species from going extinct."

Buck said extinctions have been occurring since Western sailors first discovered the islands in 1778.

The extinction rate probably has increased in the past 10 years, Suckling said. "There is no reason to believe it went down," he said.

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Hawaii extinctions According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the 52 extinct species from the Hawaiian Islands since 1973 include: >> 15 types of terrestrial snails >> 13 types of flowering plants >> 8 types of birds >> 13 types of insects >> 3 types of moths The center's report on extinct species can be found at www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/Programs/policy/esa/eesa.html.