Hulēʻia National Wildlife Refuge Draft Compatibility Determination

Hulēʻia National Wildlife Refuge Seeks Public Comment on a Draft Compatibility Determination for Right of Access to support our partner Mālama Hulēʻia and their E Kū Ana Ka Paia Community Workday event on October 21, 2023

Hulēʻia National Wildlife Refuge is seeking public review and comment on a Draft Compatibility Determination (CD) for Right of Access to determine whether one-time event access through Hulē’ia National Wildlife Refuge is compatible with Refuge establishing purposes and USFWS mission.

Our partner, Mālama Hulēʻia, is hosting an E Kū Ana Ka Paia Community Workday event on October 21, 2023. The workday event could host up to 1,200 community volunteers who will help stabilize and restore the historical kuapā (fishpond wall) at ʻAlekoko fishpond (known locally as Menehune fishpond), which borders the east side of the Refuge.  Access through the refuge is needed for a portion of volunteers to attend the event and assist with environmental education and restoration efforts at ʻAlekoko fishpond.

This draft CD evaluates whether allowing one-time access through the Refuge for the E Kū Ana Ka Paia Community Workday event would be compatible with refuge establishing purposes. The Service prepares CDs to ensure that public and economic uses of National Wildlife Refuges do not interfere with or detract from the purposes for which each refuge was established. Compatibility Determinations also describe how these uses would contribute towards achieving Refuge purposes and the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

The Service will accept comments received or postmarked on or before Thursday October 19^th.

You may submit comments or requests for additional information through any of the following methods:

Email: Christa_McLeod@fws.gov Include “Hulēʻia NWR Compatibility Determination” in the subject line of the message.

U.S. Mail: 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Attn: Project Leader

Kaua‘i National Wildlife Refuge Complex

P.O. Box 1128

Kilauea, Hawai‘i 96754

All comments received from individuals become part of the official public record. The Service’s practice is to make comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular business hours. Individual respondents can request that we withhold their home address from the record, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. If you wish to have your name and/or address withheld, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comments.