Endangered species’ habitats not protected, group says

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was put on notice Wednesday that it is being sued for failing to designate and protect critical habitat for 49 endangered species found nowhere else but Hawaii.

“The reality is that without habitat protection, these species will continue on a path toward extinction,” said Maxx Phillips, Hawaii director at the Center for Biological Diversity, the nonprofit organization that filed the 60-day notice of intent to file suit.

“What the Fish and Wildlife Service is doing is morally and legally unacceptable,” she said.

Among the 49 species is the ake‘ake, also known as the band-rumped storm-­petrel, the nalo meli maoli, also called the Hawaiian yellow-faced bee, and the orangeblack Hawaiian damselfly.

The species, scientists say, are threatened by growing urbanization, damage from nonnative and invasive species, wildfires and loss of water habitat — threats that are growing worse by the increasing effects of climate change.

The Fish and Wildlife Service placed all 49 species on the federal endangered species list Sept. 30, 2016, but has yet to designate critical habitat.

Under the Endangered Species Act, the service is required to designate critical habitat — the habitat needed to support recovery of the species — at the time of listing or “under limited circumstances, within one year.”

Once critical habitat is designated, other federal agencies must consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure actions they fund, authorize, or undertake are not likely to destroy or adversely modify the critical habitat.

Phillips said it has been shown that endangered species that do not have designated critical habitat are half as likely to survive extinction.

“Given the passage of nearly six years, it’s doubtful the service was ever going to protect habitat for these 49 species,” she said.

Phillips added that the agency is in need of reform and more resources because it is not doing its job to protect species from extinction.

Nine other Hawaiian species were declared extinct in 2021, she said, so there is need for swift action.

Among the 49 native species in need of dedicated critical habitat are seven different species of yellow-faced bees.

A scientific study published at the beginning of last year found that the native bees are being threatened by invasive ants, both directly by predation and indirectly by habitat competition.

Less than 5% of insects in Hawaiian coastal areas are native to the islands, and Hawaiian yellow-faced bees are one of a few native insects that survive in lowland areas in the main Hawaiian Islands.

But now the native bees persist in healthy populations in only a few areas on Oahu, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, while most of the 63 known species of Hawaiian yellow-faced bees have experienced significant declines in range and population and many have not been seen in recent years.

Also among the 49 is the orangeblack Hawaiian damselfly, which used to be one of the most common damselflies in Hawaii, breeding in pools, streams and taro patches.

Because of nonnative fish, however, it is now one of the state’s rarest species, living in only a few small areas across the islands. State biologists are trying to help save the species by raising naiads in captivity and releasing them into streams and ponds that don’t have nonnative fish in them.

Here are a few other species waiting for habitat designation:

Ake‘ake: This petrel returns to land from its life at sea to mate and breed, burrowing nest sites in the Hawaiian mountains. Historically they were found across all the Hawaiian Islands, but their population has declined significantly because of habitat loss.

Cyanea kauaulaensis: This shrub that produces bright orange fruit was first found in 1989 and identified as a new species in 2012, but its habitat was restricted to Kauaula Valley on Maui.

Myrsine fosbergii: These small trees with narrow green and dark purple leaves are found in the wet native forests of Oahu and Kauai. Formerly common, the species is now down to fewer than 85 individuals due to habitat destruction by feral pigs and goats.