The Bird Sanctauries of Kaua‘i Kathryn Lam, Assistant Editor
There are over 550 National Wildlife Refuges managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Nine of these are on the main Hawaiian Islands. Three of those are on Kaua‘i. In this issue, Seawords takes a quick glance at each refuge and highlights its’ wildlife, foundation, and visitor restrictions for those who might want to pop in. Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge Established under the Endangered Species Act in 1972, the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge is the oldest of the three wildlife refuges on Kaua‘i, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife website. The refuge was originally created to aid in the conservation of five endangered water birds that the website says rely on the Hanalei Valley’s habitat in order to nest and feed. In addition to these five birds, forty-five other avian species use the Hanalei Refuge. Eighteen of these are what are called “introduced species”, or species that are living outside with native distribution and arrived via humans whether accidental or intentional. 6|
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