Management
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the Federal agency responsible for the management of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge. As part of the Monument, multiple Federal agencies and the State of Hawai‘i work together to promote comprehensive and coordinated ecosystem-based management. Each agency retains their authorities and responsibilities for their assigned areas. The Service is actively working to protect threatened and endangered species, migratory birds, and the habitats upon which they depend focusing on the following ongoing activities:
- conducting biological research and population and habitat monitoring to enhance the survival of native species;
- maintaining a full-time presence at Tern Island to monitor wildlife, maintain infrastructure, and monitor for contaminants;
- maintaining a field camp at Laysan Island to eliminate noxious weeds, restore native vegetation, and prevent the extinction of Laysan ducks and Laysan finches;
- working with the U.S. Coast Guard and National Marine Fisheries Service to enforce refuge regulations and to control activities through the special use permitting process;
- characterizing the distribution and effects of contaminants within the refuge and ensuring their cleanup;
- controlling existing alien species and ensuring no additional species are introduced within the refuge;
- responding to vessel groundings and oil spills as part of a team with the U.S. Coast Guard and State of
Hawai‘i;
- participating in cooperative efforts to map and remove marine debris, particularly derelict fishing gear;
- working with universities, film crews, and the media to enhance public knowledge of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and their unique resources;
- developing and implementing recovery plans for threatened and endangered species within the refuge;
- working with Native Hawaiian communities to allow reinterment of ancestral bones on Nihoa under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act;
- allowing universities, Native Hawaiians, and other scientists access to Nihoa and Mokumanamana islands to study their unique cultural resources; and
- joining with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the State of Hawai‘i to plan and
implement ongoing reef assessment and monitoring in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
