HILO — Conservationists say a new proposal to reclassify the nene from endangered to threatened shows great strides have been made in recovering the species, whose population dropped to 30 animals in 1960.
Last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed reclassifying the nene, or Hawaiian goose, under the Endangered Species Act because it no longer is in danger of going extinct in the foreseeable future.
In addition to downlisting the nene, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing a rule that would give landowners more flexibility to manage the species on their lands and help further facilitate recovery, according to Kristi Young, deputy program manager.
The public is invited to provide feedback on the proposal through June 1. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will make a final rule in one year.
“During this time, it would be a proposed change,” Young said. “Which is basically acknowledging the great work that the partners and the public have done. Habitat protection and predator control have improved the population of the nene. This acknowledges the species is in much better shape than it was.”
The nene was declared endangered in 1967. Today, there are more than 2,800 statewide including 1,095 on Hawaii Island.
As the population increases and the birds expand in range, they face “potential conflict with the human environment,” Young said.
Relaxing some of the prohibitions would allow some activities normally prohibited under the Endangered Species Act as long as they are consistent with conservation. One example is hazing (nonlethal intentional harassment) to move birds away from areas to reduce human-wildlife conflicts such as vehicle crashes and crop depredation.
Young said it’s the first time a species in Hawaii has been proposed for reclassification to threatened.
“To us, this is great news,” Young said. “We’re really excited about the progress the nene have made.”
“This looks like a good idea because it seems to reflect the positive success story that this bird has undergone,” added Loyal Mehrhoff on Monday, endangered species recovery director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “A lot of people have worked on it, from private landowners to (U.S.) Fish and Wildlife, and the population has since increased to around 3,000 birds. So it’s been a good success story. It shows the Endangered Species Act can work.”
Officials at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, home to a nene recovery program since the 1970s, plan to review the proposal and contribute comments to the public forum, park spokeswoman Jessica Ferracane said Monday.
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
“Young said it’s the first time a species in Hawaii has been proposed for
reclassification to threatened.” Sir a designation does not save
anything, people do!
Herbert Shipman, of East Hawaii, was a conservationist. He was awarded the American Orchid Society’s Gold Medalfor pioneering orchid development in Hawaiʻi and the National
Geographic Society and the State credited him with saving the nene from extinction by raising them near Hāʻena Beach and on the family’s volcano
ranch.
Herbert Shipman did his heroic work to save the Nene before there were any “designations”.
Herbert Cornelius Shipman (1892–1976) took over the W.H. Shipman
Company in 1943 after his father’s death. Herbert is best known for
breeding the endangered Hawaiian goose (known as nēnē in the Hawaiian
language, Branta sandvicensis). He started with four birds in 1918 at
his coastal Puna Shipman estate, eventually moving the breeding program
to the family’s ‘Ainahou Ranch after the 1946 tsunami almost decimated
his existing flocks. He is credited with saving the breed and keeping
the nēnē from extinction.
Let’s get it right.
Thanks, diverdave for the complete historical information about the origins of efforts to save the nene. Aloha
Thank you. I know I seem like a know it all to some. But, especially when it comes to History of Hawaii it’s not all about one race, and it’s not about History after 1970. I am a self taught historian of sorts. I have personally read more than 325 books from the “Hawaiian Collection” at UH. It blows my mind how the writer of this article firstly knows nothing apparently about Herbert Shipman and his efforts on behalf of the nenes (and his receiving of awards from Nat. Geographic, and the State of Hawaii), and that with only the simplest research, Google, she could have found out.
Journalism just ain’t what it used to be!