Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan - U.S. Fish and Wildlife ...

Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge
Comprehensive Conservation Plan
were not permitted in Maulua Tract. Access for hunting was provided by reservation only through
gates along Keanokolu Road.
On July 1, 1993, the Sport Hunting Plan, was modified to allow pig hunters to access the lower
portion of the Lower Maulua Tract. Hunters could access the lower Maulua Tract through either the
Pīhā State Game Management Area (Hilo Forest Reserve) or the Laupāhoehoe State Natural Area
Reserve. Dogs could be used and the bag limit for each hunter was two pigs. No reservations were
required.
On November 18, 1995, with the completion of a fence around the 2,000 acre Upper Maulua Tract of
Hakalau Forest NWR, the Service allowed pig hunters to use dogs.
The Upper Maulua Tract was closed to public hunting in 2000 as the pig population was reduced to
low numbers that did not provide an acceptable public hunting experience.
Hunting was previously considered useful as an initial means to begin reduction of ungulate
numbers. This was seen as a step toward the ultimate goal of ungulate eradication and habitat
restoration. The levels of hunting use, based on 6 consecutive years of public hunting in the upper
Maulua Unit, averaged 80 hunter days per year. Access to Middle and Lower Maulua units for public
hunting was permitted through State lands (east boundary) on June 17, 1993, with no administrative
controls (reservations, law enforcement patrols, etc.) required; therefore, no data is available.
Over time, the desired management effect was achieved on eight ungulate management units.
Portions of the Refuge, including areas where populations of rare birds and plants are highest, are
closed to the public. No requests for approval to hunt on Hakalau Forest NWR have occurred since
2000.
Public recreational hunting for games birds was never allowed at the Refuge since the flight path of
the endangered nēnē and wild turkey (game bird) overlap.
The Kona Forest Unit has never been opened to the public.
Availability of Resources:
Current staffing levels do not allow for administration and oversight of a public hunting program at
the Refuge. Management of a quality public recreation hunt program at Hakalau Forest NWR would
require full-time law enforcement staff oversight, with regular law enforcement presence on the
Refuge to ensure a safe, quality program that does not adversely impact sensitive plant and animal
species and to prevent user conflicts. In addition, the purpose of the Refuge is in direct conflict with
keeping ungulate numbers at a level that would provide a quality public recreation hunt program.
Anticipated Impacts of the Use(s):
Recreational public pig hunting would likely have significant adverse effects on endangered,
threatened, and rare species and their habitats. Hakalau Forest NWR contains habitat for 25 plant
species that are either federally endangered, species of concern, or rare. Endangered plants were first
outplanted in the Upper Maulua Tract of Hakalau Forest NWR in 2005, and the effort continues. To
date, totals of each species planted are:
B-22 Appendix B. Appropriate Uses and Compatibility Determinations