Audubon Society asks for pueo study with Lahaina Bypass project
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The National Audubon Society has asked state transportation officials to include a biological review of the Hawaiian short-eared owl in the study of Lahaina Bypass connector alternatives near Wahikuli Gulch in West Maui.
A proposed connector road between the bypass and Hanakao'o Beach Park would pass through Wahikuli Gulch.
"A number of local residents and birdwatchers have reported observing pueo regularly using the Wahikuli Gulch corridor and adjacent open grassland and scrubland north of Lahaina Town," said Keith Swindle, executive director of the National Audubon Society.
In a letter to state Transportation Director Ed Sniffen dated July 24, Swindle said that although the pueo is not listed as an endangered species on Maui, it is a culturally significant native raptor and is included in the Species of Greatest Conservation Need under the Hawaii State Wildlife Action Plan.
The owl is a subspecies of the American short-eared owl and is culturally significant as an ancestral guardian spirit to Hawaiians.
Swindle said the society recognizes the Lahaina Bypass is critical to the region’s wildfire evacuation plan and that the letter is not intended to oppose the project. Rather, it asks that the owl be considered in the planning process without affecting the project’s schedule.
He asked that efforts be made to maximize the distance from Wahikuli Gulch while still meeting the transportation project’s evacuation, safety and connectivity objectives. Swindle mentioned a paved road farther south near the Lahaina Fire Station as a possible alternative.
If the corridor is located near the gulch, the society is asking that construction not take place from March through August because that is the pueo’s breeding season.
The society also asks that, if guardrails are installed near the gulch, standard raptor-safe design measures be incorporated, including anti-perch treatments on new guardrails, signposts and light standards, as well as shielded, downward-directed lighting. It also asks for the avoidance of rodenticides in right-of-way landscaping and maintenance and the retention of a native or naturalized grassland shrub buffer along the gulch.
The society also asks to be placed on the stakeholder notification list for future scoping and environmental review.
This map shows the proposed Lahaina Bypass extension from Keawe Street to Pu'ukoli'i, including a middle connector south of the Kaanapali Golf Courses and another connector in the Pu'ukoli'i area. Image Hawaii Department of Transportation