The proposed designation of nearly 100,000 acres as critical habitat on Kaua`i and Ni`ihau is just the first of several proposals that have been floated in Hawai`i by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in recent months. Here is a summary of them:
Nihoa, Necker and Laysan: All land, to protect five endangered species. All land is owned by the federal government and managed as part of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge.
Ni`ihau and Kaua`i : 99,206 acres on Kaua`i and 697 acres on Ni`ihau to protect 83 threatened and endangered species. On Kaua`i, 1 percent of the proposed critical habitat is owned by the federal government; 67 percent by the state; 32 percent is privately owned. On Ni`ihau, all is privately owned.
O`ahu: 111,364 acres to protect 99 species; 6 percent federal, 35 percent state, 59 percent private.
Moloka`i: 43,532 acres to protect 46 species; less than 1 percent federal; 52 percent state; 48 percent private;
Lana`i: 19, 405 acres to protect 32 species; all privately owned;
Maui and Kaho`olawe: 128,294 acres to protect 61 species (126.531 acres on Maui, 1,763 acres on Kaho`olawe). 17 percent owned by the federal government; 45 percent by the state; 37 percent private. All land on Kaho`olawe is owned by the state.
Hawai`i: 437,285 acres to protect 47 species; 33 percent federal, 51 percent state, 16 percent private.
Volume 13, Number 1 July 2002
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