Critical Habitat Proposal Raises Concerns in Maui County
Critical Habitat Proposal Raises Concerns in Maui County
by Kristin Mack On June 11 , 2012 , the US Fish and Wildlife Service ( USFWS ) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register ( 77 FR 34464 ) to list 38 species found on the Hawaiian Islands of Molokai , Lanai , and Maui , as endangered and reevaluate the endangered status of 2 presently listed plant species . In addition , they are proposing critical habitat for 135 species in an area totaling 271,062 acres . By definition , critical habitat is habitat needed by an endangered or threatened species in order to recover and be removed from the listing pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973 . According to USFWS statements , the designation of critical habitat on State or privately owned land does not mean the government would like to acquire or control the land . Also they state that it does not require landowners to carry out any special management actions , nor does it restrict the use of their land , establish sanctuaries , or prohibit private or State projects in these areas unless the landowner needs a Federal permit or receives Federal funding for a specific activity . However many studies looking at the actual impact of critical habitat designation have found this to be a flawed statement . According to David Sunding of UC Berkley , if land is designated as critical habitat , the designation is likely to affect how the project is treated by other agencies , including local permitting agencies ( 1 ). Therefore , if you wish to develop on land which is designated critical habitat , you are more likely encounter difficulties in obtaining county permits because they are unwilling to supersede any designation put in place by the federal agencies , regardless of whether you are actually seeking a federal permit for the activity . According to the Draft Economic Analysis ( 2 ) that was released by the USFWS on January 14 , 2013 , they list the “ direct ” economic effects of critical habitat on Maui Nui at $ 100,000 over 5 years . However , these calculations do not include what the report calls “ indirect ” economic impacts including “ un-quantified impacts ” such as the effect on future land development projects , changes in the way that the State or county manage these lands , a reduction in land values due to the possible changes in land management , the perceptional effects on land values to the extent that potential buyers expect future economic opportunities on these lands may be restricted in some way , and the increased vulnerability of landowners to litigation regarding the management of their lands . The Hawaii Cattlemen ’ s Council , Inc . released comments on the preliminary draft echoing the concerns of many of their members , that what is considered “ indirect ” by the USFWS is actually very direct to their lives and businesses . They also state that economic analyses for other species such as the California red -legged frog , the Bay checkerspot butterfly , and Pacific
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northwest salmonoids have demonstrated that the land value decreases can be quantified and monetized , therefore can be done on this study also . David Sunding also found this to be true , stating in his study that traditional measures of the costs of regulation can be grossly underestimated , sometimes by more than 90 % ( 1 ). A public hearing was held on February 21 st to provide a formal , structured opportunity for interested parties to verbally express comments or submit written comments on the proposed rule . About 130 landowners , hunters , native Hawaiian activists , farmers , and ranchers attended to express their concern and give testimony on the proposed ruling . Another open testimony session was held on February 26 th with the Maui County Council and was well attended and reported on by the Maui News ( 3 ). Many of the comments expressed concern that the proposal areas are only lines on a map and do not really represent a science-based approach to identifying area that these species need to survive . Others stated that they have asked officials to come to their land and show them the endangered species on their properties , with no response . Overall , the concern is that this designation will increase regulations and inhibit business and agriculture without producing measurable positive impacts on species survival . Please follow these links to learn more about this important issue for Maui County : http :// www . fws . gov / pacificislands / The comment period closes on March 4 , 2013 and comments can be submitted through the following link : http :// www . regulations . gov /#! documentDetail ; D = FWS- R1-ES-2011-0098-0051 Sources : 1 . http :// giannini . ucop . edu / media / are-update / files / articles / v6n6 _ 3 . pdf 2 . http :// www . fws . gov / pacificislands / Publications /
Maui _ Nui _ DEA2 _ 14-Jan-2013 . pdf 3 . http :// www . mauinews . com / page / content . detail / id / 570192 / Critical-habitats-proposal-raisesconcerns . html ? nav = 10
Map of Proposed Critical Habitat Areas ( colored areas )