A proposed firebreak expansion project on Maunakea to protect the critically endangered palila has been approved by the Board of Land and Natural Resources.
The Maunakea Fuelbreak Maintenance Project will expand 30 miles of existing firebreaks within the Maunakea Forest Reserve and Game Management Area in order to reduce the risk of wildfire within the palila’s sole natural habitat.
Jason Omick, wildlife biologist for the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry and Wildlife, said during Friday’s BLNR meeting that the palila’s habitat has been threatened by recent wildland fires and remains at high risk.
“With the removal of sheep and goats, combined with several years of good precipitation on Maunakea, this has resulted in an increase in vegetative fuel,” Omick said. “… This could be a big factor to wipe out the (palila) population.”
The palila, also known as the Hawaiian honeycreeper, is only found in the wild on the mountain’s southwestern slopes. An October report about the project estimated that there are fewer than 300 of the birds alive in the species’ natural habitat.
Omick said there are other DOFAW projects attempting to introduce palila and other endangered native species to other locations on the island, but added that the highest concentration of the birds remains in the Maunakea Forest Reserve.
In order to protect the forest reserve from wildfire, the project would clear 10 meters of vegetation from the sides of 30 miles of existing roads, for a total of 238 acres. In addition, another 117 miles of road will be subject to further clearing of vegetation.
Earlier in October, a representative of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — which will fund the project, although the project’s cost was not brought up during Friday’s meeting — said the project is anticipated to begin in 2023 and take approximately two years to complete.
However, project documents indicate that the vegetation clearing itself can only take place during tightly defined windows to avoid interfering with the nesting and rearing seasons of the palila and the Hawaiian hoary bat, which also lives in the area.
Specifically, no trees of any size will be removed between Jan. 1 and June 30, and no trees taller than 15 feet will be removed between June 30 and Sept. 15.
The BLNR voted unanimously Friday to approve the project.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.