The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a final rule today designating critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act for 41 threatened and endangered plants on the of Molokai, in accordance with a Federal court order.
The final rule, which becomes effective in 30 days, establishes 88 single-species critical habitat units covering 24,333 acres of land on Molokai. Although identified in separate units by plant species, many of the units actually overlap, creating in essence nine multi-species units. Half of the acreage designated as critical habitat is privately held; the remainder is State land except for three acres under National Park Service jurisdiction.
Based on public comments and new information acquired after critical habitat was proposed in April 2002, the Service eliminated almost 19,200 acres originally proposed for critical habitat status.
The proposed rule was published on April 5, 2002. It identified 43,532 acres on Molokai as potential critical habitat. Based on new information received during the public comment periods or gathered during field visits, areas that do not provide the habitat needed by the species or are not essential for its conservation were eliminated in the final rule.
"Thirty-five of these plant species are found on other Hawaiian islands in addition to Molokai," said Paul Henson, field supervisor for the Fish and Wildlife Service
