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)