On October 28-30, 2016, students from Dean Antolini’s Environmental Law class enjoyed a weekend service trip to the Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge located in Hilo, Hawaii. Lucy Brown, ELP student, shares her memorable experience:
My weekend at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge reminded me why I am in law school. As our Toyota 4Runner crept up Mauna Kea, the clouds rolled in and a heavy mist filled the air. Although I was born and raised on the Big Island, I felt like I was seeing the island through new eyes. Never before had I felt such a sense of duty and obligation to the place that I call home. With thoughts of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) floating in the back of my mind, I scoured the mountain for protected birds, trees, and plants. I searched for proof that a noble, humane law could make a palpable difference and I found this proof in unexpected places.
Hakalau serves as a microcosm to study the effects of human development on native forests and the subsequent impact on native bird populations. Surrounding Hakalau, abandoned pastureland sits destitute, covered in alien vegetation. The health of other species provides a good indication of the general condition of our environment.[1] Viewing Hakalau’s surrounding environment through this lens, the general condition of our environment is in trouble. I saw the impacts of logging, cattle grazing, and sport hunting in the lack of native plants, the proliferation of invasive species, and the total disruption of the native ecosystem. The Palila bird provides a compelling example of the effects of a disrupted ecosystem. The seeds of the Māmane tree serve as the primary diet for the Palila bird. Since the introduction of ungulates, the Māmane population has declined substantially because ungulates stomp Māmane roots.[2] Due to the destruction of Māmane, Palila is now listed as endangered under the ESA.[3]
After comprehending the scope of destruction on Mauna Kea, Hakalau was an oasis. The Native Hawaiian forest, in all of its glory, was a testament to the preservation of native ecosystems. I spent hours with my classmates and friends planting understory, like ʻŌhelo, beneath blooming ʻŌhiʻa trees. Fresh, dewy lichen clung to towering Koa, and the birds cheered us on with playful songs. I had the pleasure to plant alongside Baron Horiuci, the steward of Hakalau and an artisan of reforestation. Planting with Baron instilled in me a sense of calm and gratitude that I haven’t felt in a very long time. To put my hands in the dirt, feel the rain on my face and put something back into the earth (for once) was a peaceful and humbling experience.
Aside from this spiritual awakening, Hakalau also offered an opportunity to see the impact that law can have “on the ground.” The National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act (Refuge System Act) governs Hakalau. Although the Refuge System Act is distinct from the ESA, the two overlap to protect and conserve endangered species and their habitat. Without the regeneration of the Native Hawaiian forest at Hakalau, many endangered birds would lack the necessary habitat to sustain themselves. Birds listed as endangered under the ESA that reside at Hakalau include ‘Akiapōlā‘au,[4] ‘Ākepa,[5] ‘Elepaio,[6] Hawai‘i Creeper,[7] ‘Io,[8] and Nēnē.[9] With the exception of the Hawai‘i Creeper, none of these birds have designated critical habitat under the ESA.[10] The Refuge System Act, through its operation of Hakalau, works as a legislative gap-filler by providing pseudo-critical habitat designation for endangered species.
As we walked through the chirping forest on our last day at Hakalau and I viewed an ‘I‘iwi through Dean A’s binoculars, the symbiosis of the forest came into such clear focus. I watched the beautiful ‘I‘iwi through “HD” eyes, dipping its long beak into the lehua blossom, observing its surroundings, and jumping from branch to branch.
I became particularly fond of ‘I‘iwi because it was one of the few birds that I thoroughly observed through the thick Mauna Kea fog. Since returning home, I have researched its proposed listing under the ESA. According to the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed ruling, one of the major threats to the ‘I‘iwi is increased temperature resulting from climate change.[11] A rise in temperature results in increased mosquito-borne diseases, an effect that “is likely to continue and worsen in the future.”[12] Essentially, the malarial parasite will be able to develop at higher altitudes, like Hakalau, and regions previously unaffected by avian malaria.[13] The FWS predicts that the ‘I‘iwi population will decline by seventy to ninety percent by 2100 due to its particular susceptibility to avian malaria.[14]
Therefore, climate change is a serious threat to the future of Hakalau. The FWS predicts that the “current disease-free habitat at high elevation within Hakalau . . . would be reduced by [ninety-six] percent by the end of the century.”[15] To imagine the trees of Hakalau without birds is to imagine humans without air; they need each other to survive. Although it is difficult to imagine a worse outcome, FWS predicts that another potential consequence of warming is the complete “elimination of high-elevation forest[s]”[16] in Hawai‘i by 2100.[17]
Despite these concerning predictions, people like Baron give me hope that resilient species paired with exceptional humans can overcome such challenges. Baron described Hakalau thirty years ago as a desolate pastureland that lacked native trees and vegetation. Today, it stands as a symbol of hard work, determination, love, species resilience, laulima, and the power of a fully-functioning ecosystem.
[1] Sarah Matsumoto & Cara Pike, Citizen’s Guide To The Endangered Species Act 8 (2003).
[2] See id. at 34.
[3] U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Species Profile for Palila (Loxioides bailleui) (Nov. 18, 2016, 10:44 AM), http://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=B00K
[4] U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Species Profile for Akiapolaau (Hemignathus wilsoni) (Nov. 17, 2016, 9:08 PM), http://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=B001
[5] U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Species Profile for Hawaii Akepa (Loxops coccineus) (Nov. 17, 2016, 9:10 PM), http://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=B044
[6] U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Species Profile for Oahu Elepaio (Chasiempis ibidis) (Nov. 17, 2016, 9:10 PM), http://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=B0AL
[7] U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Species Profile for Hawaii Creeper (Oreomystis mana) (Nov. 17, 2016, 9:10 PM), http://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=B04M
[8] U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Species Profile for Hawaiian Hawk (Buteo solitarius) (Nov. 17, 2016, 9:12 PM), http://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=B00D
[9] U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Species Profile for Hawaiian Goose (Branta sandvicensis) (Nov. 17, 2016, 9:12 PM), http://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=B00C
[10] Akiapolaau, supra note 3; Hawaii Akepa, supra note 4; Oahu Elepaio, supra note 5; Hawaii Creeper, supra note 6; Hawaiian Hawk, supra note 7; Hawaiian Goose, supra note 8.
[11] Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Threatened Species Status for the Iiwi (Drepanis coccinea), 81 Fed. Reg. 64414, 64414 (proposed Sept. 20, 2016) (to be codified at 50 C.F.R. pt. 17), https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-09-20/pdf/2016-22592.pdf.
[12] Id. at 64420.
[13] Id.
[14] Id. at 64421.
[15] Id. at 64420 (citation omitted).
[16] Id. at 64421.
[17] Id.