The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be holding two informal question and answer sessions regarding their proposal to establish critical habitat for 83 plant species on Kauai and Niihau on Wednesday and Thursday, September 4-5. The agency recently reopened the public comment period for the proposal until September 30.
"These will be informal meetings, not public hearings," said Paul Henson, field supervisor for the Service’s Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office. "We’re coming to Kauai to answer questions and encourage people to comment on both the proposed rule to designate critical habitat and the draft economic analysis associated with that proposal."
The meeting on Wednesday will be at the Waimea Neighborhood Center from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. On Thursday, the meeting moves to the Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center, also from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Fish and Wildlife Service staff will present a brief introductory program about the critical habitat designation process before opening the meetings to questions and answers.
The proposed rule to designate critical habitat for the plant species was published in the Federal Register on January 28. It identified 16 proposed critical habitat units covering 99,903 acres, mostly in northwestern Kauai. Almost two-thirds of the land is administered by the State of Hawaii, with most of the remainder under private ownership.
Copies of the proposed rule, the economic analysis, and a fact sheet regarding the critical habitat proposal are available via the Internet at http://pacificislands.fws.gov under Endangered Species or by calling the Fish and Wildlife Service in Honolulu at 808 541 3441.
