Kauai Wants License to Kill 15 Birds Per Year
Protecting the birds already forced Kauai’s high school football teams to reschedule their games. What else is going to have to change on the Garden Isle?
After three years of negotiations, Kauai‘s county government this week submitted a habitat conservation plan to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources. The plan, which covers all county facilities, includes new measures to protect three species of threatened sea birds: the Newell’s Shearwater, Hawaiian Petrel and Band-Rumped Storm-Petrel.
They’ve also asked for an incidental take license, which would allow for a certain number of birds each year to be harmed by accident.
If the plan and license are approved by authorities, the county would be allowed to kill up to 15 birds per year without penalty. Under federal and state regulations, each harmed bird could cost the county tens of thousands of dollars — if they don’t get the license.
The state is already working on an island-wide habitat conservation plan that would allow entities to buy into programs to protect species from nest predators and take other steps to mitigate or offset the damage they cause to birds.
Among the new promises made by the county in the plan is an agreement “not to illuminate sports fields and courts during fledgling season, between Sept. 15 and Dec. 14, until such time as those facility lights are fully shielded,” according to a county press release. The birds’ navigational instincts are thrown off by the lights. On their first flight out to sea, young birds circle the lights to the point of exhaustion.
For stadiums, lights will be retrofitted using partially shielded fixtures, and a “minimal number” of night games will be held. The county estimates that could result in up to a 40 percent decrease to the number of birds impacted by the lights. The high school football schedule change was only for the 2010 season. It’s unclear how long it will take to retrofit the facilities.
Read the about the application and the full press release below.
