Hunter's Block Saddle Road Work, Professing Concern for the Rare Palila

posted in: October 2000 | 0

Katsuya “Kats” Yamada, a hunter fighting the realignment of Saddle Road on the Big Island of Hawai`i, is concerned that planners did not pick “the most environmentally sensitive option” for constructing a key part of the road. Another hunter, John S. Carroll, dislikes the plan because it could interfere with his “contemplation of the beauty of the area.”

Further, the two men asserted recently, the realignment would violate the Endangered Species Act and disturb critical habitat of an endangered bird, the palila (Loxioides bailleui), a native Hawaiian honeycreeper.

Yamada and Carroll used these points in documents filed with the state Board of Land and Natural Resources and in hearings before the board in May, as the board considered whether to grant a permit for construction of that part of the realigned route that runs through land in the state Conservation District.

Their protests over the Saddle Road realignment formed an odd juxtaposition: As what is left of the natural diversity of Hawai`i slips further toward extinction, the hunters shed tears for endangered species while arguing for more of the very species of introduced game animals that have helped propel natives to the brink of extinction.

To be sure, the hunters made other points in winning on May 26 the right for Yamada to have a hearing to contest a Conservation District Use Application (CDUA) for a section of the $200 million Saddle Road project. And although critics of Yamada’s stance on the project issues didn’t fight his request for a contested case hearing, the pleadings on behalf of critically endangered species struck them as crocodile tears.

The odd argument of the riflemen-cum-lawyers was but one of many extraordinary developments in the project in the past year or so. Last October (1999), officials with the state and federal agencies involved in the project approved a Record of Decision that, among other actions, selected an option to realign Saddle Road so that it would no longer run through a key part of the U.S. Army’s Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA). The agencies also backed the purchase of a conservation easement on four parcels of land to mitigate the anticipated negative effects of constructing the realigned road through palila critical habitat near the PTA.

The Record of Decision also outlined several remarkable steps aimed at reducing the proposed construction project’s footprint on the natural landscape. These steps ranged from banning the use of lights after dark so night-flying birds wouldn’t become disoriented to steam-cleaning bulldozers to reduce the chances that alien plant seeds will be carried into sensitive areas.

“From the very beginning, we have approached this project with the clearly stated goal of environmental consciousness,” said Reggie David, an environmental consultant for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the government agency that would build the road.

The project, for which planning began a decade ago, is led by the FHWA’s Central Federal Lands Highway Division and the U.S. Army in cooperation with the Hawai`i Department of Transportation and County of Hawai`i. David and other project planners have brokered a daunting array of consensus opinions among state and federal agencies with different responsibilities and goals, and they’ve sought input in a series of public meetings and hearings.

The challenges by Yamada and Carroll notwithstanding, the project has gained momentum in the past year. Even so, it could take another decade or more to complete construction.

Accident-prone

Like the controversy swirling around it, Saddle Road is long and winding. The road, Hawaii State Route 200, connects the west and east sides of the Big Island. It runs for about 53 miles from its western terminus at Mamalahoa Highway a few miles south of Waimea, across a 6,500-foot-elevation gap between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, to Hilo on the eastern side of the island.

To drive this road is to wind, jump, and bump across a landscape of cow pasture, lava, and rainforest. It is replete with tight curves, sudden rises, open culverts, and one-lane bridges. For long stretches the outside half of each lane — a pothole-pocked, slap-dash patchwork of asphalt — pretends to substitute for a driving surface.

Such “road defects,” as federal officials call them, contribute to a third of the accidents on the notoriously accident-prone road. The accident rate on Saddle Road is 5.43 per million vehicle miles, compared with just 3.0 for rural two-lane highways across the state.

The Army is one of the major players in the Saddle Road project because the road currently runs through or along the northern end of the PTA, where 500 to 5,000 soldiers at a time train throughout the year. That includes all branches of the U.S. military and some foreign forces. With about 109,000 acres of land leased from the state, the PTA is the Army’s largest contiguous training area in Hawaii and most important training area in the Pacific Rim, Army officials say.

Saddle Road is one of the few roads in the United States on which a civilian can drive past signs warning of live ammunition fire and that artillery rounds may be lobbed overhead. Some training missions require troops to shoot artillery across the road or cross it to reach firing ranges. Not only does it create a hazard for the public, the Army claims it reduces the quality of training exercises for the military.

The improved road would be a fully paved two-lane highway with less-treacherous curves, uphill passing lanes, truck escape ramps, scenic pullouts, and other improvements. Officials with the FHWA say the changes are needed to increase safety, handle an expected rise in traffic volume, and reduce conflicts among civilian and military vehicles.

The role of palila

To understand the environmental controversy over the Saddle Road realignment, it’s important to know about the palila, its ecological links, and its enemies.

The palila was listed as endangered in 1967. Palila numbers have dropped to somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000, with the remaining core population (92 percent of the known palila birds) inhabiting a small area on the southwestern slope of Mauna Kea near Pu`u La`au.

The bird’s primary habitats are the mamane (Sophora chrysophylla) and mamane-naio (Myoporum sandwicense) forests of the Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa highlands. The bird feeds mainly on the seeds, flowers, and leaf buds of the mamane, as well as on insects found on the tree. It also uses mamane for nesting and shelter.

Research has shown that when mamane seed production is poor, nesting is delayed and fewer palila try to nest. Also, the availability of mamane forest at different altitudes has been shown to be an important variable in the life of the palila.

The final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Saddle Road project, issued in September 1999, explained this key point: “Mamane trees produce flowers and fruits at different times during the year, depending on elevation. A wide belt of mamane results in more consistent availability of mamane pods within a reasonable daily movement distance for palila, especially during the breeding seasons.”

Introduced hooved animals, or ungulates, are the bane of mamane forests and, as a result, of the palila. A court-ordered removal cut into the massive populations of feral sheep, goats, and mouflon sheep on Mauna Kea in the 1980s, although “small numbers of sheep still persist within the palila critical habitat area” that rings Mauna Kea, the EIS said.

The “fragmented nature” of much of the remaining mamane forest is one of the main limits on palila expansion, the EIS said. “Browsing of mamane seedlings by feral sheep and domestic ungulates has reduced tree density, which in turn requires palila to expend greater energy in the pursuit of food resources.”

Meanwhile, alien invasive weeds took over much of the landscape from browsed native understory plants. Among other problems, this encouraged the spread of the alien invasive fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum), and along with it the risk of fire. One such fire in 1975 eliminated about 500 acres of mamane-naio forest in the bird’s critical habitat.

“Military training (e.g., weapon firing, use of explosives, and bivouacking) on PTA and public users (cross-island traffic on Saddle road, hunters, etc.) presents a constant fire threat to the remaining mamane-naio forest on which the palila depends,” the EIS said. The report noted that “fire has replaced sheep as the single greatest threat to the continued survival of palila. Not only is the habitat in which palila persevere extremely dry and fire prone, but the bulk of the population is concentrated in an area around Pu`u La`auÉ [and] the concentration of the population within one area increases the likelihood of a single catastrophic event extirpating the species.”

Other threats to the palilia include introduced rats and cats, as well as avian disease. Some biologists believe alien insects that prey on the bird’s native insect food may be a contributing factor in its decline.

Mitigation measures

In its Record of Decision last October, the FHWA selected an alternative known as PTA-1 for realignment of the road in Section II, the section covering the training area. This alternative would realign the road to the north of PTA, taking the civilian road out of the middle of the military activities.

Admitting that the PTA-1 alternative “would result in substantial impacts by direct modification of palila critical habitat,” the Record of Decision noted several mitigation measures built into the project design. Among them was a notable shot in the arm for the palila: in exchange for having the road go through 102 acres (41.5 hectares) of critical habitat, the federal government would “secure” and manage additional palila habitat considered to have good potential for restoring populations of the bird.

Three mitigation sites were selected based on previous studies and on a July 1998 “memorandum of understanding” for palila mitigation agreed to by the agencies. The sites included the parcels for which a conservation easement would be purchased. The sites were:

* About 4,600 acres (1,864 hectares) of the Pu`u Mali region on the northern slope of Mauna Kea. This would include state land within the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve, as well as state-owned land leased for ranching just below the reserve boundary.

* A 1,738-acres (704-hectare) parcel of state land on the western slope of Mauna Kea. This area, within the Ka`ohe land section, or ahupua`a, includes land within the ring of palila critical habitat that encircles Mauna Kea. It is now being used for cattle grazing under a lease to Parker Ranch.

*A 2,998-acre (1,214-hectare) region within the PTA known as Kipuka `Alala. The Record of Decision calls it “the only location” outside of the palila critical habitat and within PTA “with any potential for long-term restoration and palila translocation.” It is mixed naio-mamane shrubland.

Plans call for each of these mitigation areas to be fenced and the ungulates removed. The money to purchase the conservation easements, compensate the current lease holders for loss of leased land, construct fencing, and implement the palila mitigation plan would come through congressional appropriations and be dispensed via the Department of Defense and Federal Highway Administration.

Citing a 1997 Final Biological Opinion on the project by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Record of Decision noted that these steps would “offset the modifications being made to palila critical habitat and enhance the likelihood of survival and recovery of the palila.”

The 9,340 acres (3,782 hectares) in the three mitigation parcels represented nearly 91 times the area of critical habitat disrupted by the project. Even without considering the different altitudes of the new palila parcels, the mitigation steps appeared to be a very good deal for the environment. It also was a good deal for the Army, which has been roundly criticized for its handling of endangered species issues on PTA.

“The amount of training isn’t going to increase, but the quality will be better in the long run,” said Scott Henderson, environmental officer for the PTA. “And in my personal opinion, this is indeed a windfall for the palila. There’s no way that in the normal course of events you would see this sort of money coming at the palila. If the money didn’t come along, the future wouldn’t be bright for the palila.”

Tiptoeing through the a’a

When government officials refer to “collateral damage” in the Saddle Road project, they’re talking about accidentally killing endangered plants and animals – not civilians in a war zone.

For instance, the Record of Decision stipulates that in some sections of the road project: “To minimize collateral damage to areas outside the right-of-way, the contract requirements will mandate that all construction activity shall be restricted to within the clearly delineated right of way.”

The record continues: “Entry and exit into the right of way by all construction personnel and equipment shall be at previously identified and marked non-sensitive areas.”

Such sensitivity may well become a hallmark of the Saddle Road project, which planners insist will step lightly on the land – at least for a construction project.

Here are other examples of steps construction contractors must take, under terms in the Record of Decision:

*Restrict lighting. After-dark use of construction equipment and other items with lights will be prohibited from April to October. Along part of the road, lighting will be prohibited in staging and equipment storage areas. (The improved road itself will have no streetlights.) These precautions are mainly intended to protect the dark-rumped petrel (Pterodroma phaeopygia sandwichensis) during its breeding season, which usually occurs during this period. The seabird returns to its nesting colony high up Mauna Kea after dark and can become disoriented by lights, colliding with man-made structures. These precautions also would help the Newell’s shearwater (Puffinus auricularis newelli) for the same reasons.

*Minimize fire hazard. To reduce the risk of habitat destruction by fire, contractors must construct wide asphalt shoulders, curbs, and ditches along the road and fire breaks in some areas. A fire management plan based on statistical fire models developed by a fire ecologist will be developed.

*Protect endangered plants. Construction will be kept away from populations of several endangered plant species, including Silene hawaiiensis For example, one population of 70 S. hawaiiensis and another of 24 individuals located outside the construction corridor will be fenced and posted as off limits to construction personnel.

*Avoid kipuka. These “islands” in seas of past lava flows contain important communities of native plants and animals. Some kipuka close to the construction zone will be fenced and declared off limits.

*Search for Hawaiian hawk nests. This bird, also known as the `io (Buteo solitariu s), inhabits the eastern part of the project area. To avoid disturbing or destroying nests during the breeding season, an ornithologist will search areas about to undergo construction during that season. If a nest is found, construction will be halted within 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) of the nest and FWS brought in for consultation.

*Prevent the spread of alien species. Since construction equipment can transport alien plant and insects, it will be steam-cleaned and fumigated before coming to the site. If soil is needed from off-site, “every attempt will be made to sterilize” it. To minimize the spread of alien plants, bulldozing from pastures and other disturbed land into native-dominated areas will be avoided. The construction right of way will be inspected every three months and herbicides used to check the spread of fountain grass.

*Carefully store construction equipment and material. These items pose potential problems to sensitive biological resources. For example, gas, oil, and other lubricants, if improperly disposed of, can harm native species. Heavy equipment can collapse or damage caves and lava tubes that provide important habitat.

In addition to a comprehensive environmental manual for each contractor and a required orientation meeting for all construction personnel, a federal or state project engineer “will be on site at all times to ensure implementation and compliance” with the environmental requirements, the Record of Decision notes. The engineer will have the authority to shut down construction should violations occur.

All this is in keeping with the philosophy of the Central Federal Lands Highway Division, which is the section of the FHWA that builds roads in national parks, said David. “Their motto is ‘Laying the road lightly on the land,'” he said. “It’s fair to say that Federal Highways has gone to extreme measures to lay this lightly on the land.”

A contested case

The challenge by Yamada and Carroll, a former state representative and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in the September primary, must be viewed against this backdrop of official care and planning to spare an intricately connected set of native Hawaiian ecosystems.

They and other hunters believe the Saddle Road realignment with its palila mitigation plan is “a bizarre environmental pork-barrel deal,” as a columnist for the Hawai`i Fishing News put it. It comes at a time when, hunters say, hunting lands are shrinking and pigs are being eradicated. In short, they claim the realignment would infringe on hunting rights.

Biologists and conservationists other opponents of the hunters dispute these views. They say that the hunters – in continuing to challenge the realignment and in using the palila as a rationale – are simply being vindictive, seeking revenge for the expansion of protected habitat for the bird. Plenty of hunting lands and game animals remain on the Big Island, they say.

At the May 26 hearing before the Board of Land and Natural Resources on Yamada’s standing to contest the CDUA permit, Yamada argued that the planners chose the wrong route and that his rights were adversely affected.

By placing the road through the palila critical habitat, Yamada said, the planners chose “the most environmentally sensitive option rather than to select the least environmentally sensitive option, which is to maintain the existing route which traverses a`a lava. Granting of a CDUA permit would not only violate the constitutional provision placing the duty on this board to conserve and protect Hawai`i’s natural beauty and natural resources but cause this board to violate its oath to support and defend the Constitution of the state of Hawai`i.”

With Yamada’s talk of “environmentally sensitive” options and Carroll’s written comments to the board about contemplating nature’s beauty, the lawyer-hunters seemed only to add to the debate an aura of the devil quoting the Bible to try to win his argument with Daniel Webster.

The board approved Yamada’s right to a contested case hearing. As of mid-September, no date had been set for the start of the hearing, which can last several months. But federal officials present at the preliminary hearing in May indicated that regardless of Yamada’s right to contest the permit, the substance of his claims — that the realignment would have a substantial impact on hunting rights — held no merit.

The planners still hope to launch construction in the fall of 2001. The contested case could delay that for a while.

“Realistically, we are going forward at full steam assuming that these issues will be resolved,” David said. Work on the realignment is scheduled to take about three years.

Assuming Yamada’s case fails, palila mitigation should start at the same time as construction, but the government planners must still get through a minefield of lease negotiations, permitting, Land Board approvals, and other rulings as the process proceeds.

“All of these steps obviously could be show-stoppers if the parties involved cannot reach consensus decisions,” he said. “There are a lot of balls up in the air.”

— William Allen

Volume 11, Number 4 October 2000

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