Midler's Kaua'i land offered as bird refuge
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
KAPA'A, Kaua'i — Entertainer Bette Midler hopes to convert roughly 100 acres of her Kapa'a holdings into wetland habitat for endangered Hawaiian waterbirds.
Jan TenBruggencate • The Honolulu Advertiser
Midler's representatives are working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service and the conservation group Ducks Unlimited, in consultation with other agencies, to develop a plan that would create waterbird habitat that would be protected in perpetuity.
The low-lying land between Kapa'a Town and the Sleeping Giant mountain range is part of a proposed 100-acre wildlife refuge.
Midler in late 1999 bought 1,400 acres of mostly sugarcane land from Amfac's Lihu'e Plantation. The land is a large tract running from directly mauka of Kapa'a town to the base of the Nounou, or Sleeping Giant, mountain range, and from Waipouli to Olohena Road.
Her representative at the time of the sale said she did not intend to develop the property, but planned a forestry enterprise. More recently, the emphasis has been for sustainable agricultural activities on most of the land, said Allan Rietow, a land manager who has helped with some of the planning.
"Bette Midler has a committed vision for this," Rietow said. "Her mission is to keep it out of development, to keep it open."
Sharon Reilly of Ducks Unlimited said Midler plans to place roughly 100 acres of lowlands mauka of the Kapa'a Shopping Center into the Wetlands Reserve Program. The land originally was swamp but had been drained and used to grow sugar.
"She's signed up for a perpetual easement," Reilly said. "The intent of the program is to restore wetlands that were manipulated, drained, pumped or whatever, and to enhance them for waterfowl."
The details of the agreement have not been entirely worked out.
Midler declined to comment on the refuge at this point, saying through a spokesperson that she would issue a statement when her plans are further along.
There are other wetland reserves in the state, but the Midler property would be the first to involve an easement, Reilly said. Midler would retain ownership, but would give up the right to put the land to other uses.
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Terrell Kelley, state biologist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, said an appropriation for the Wetlands Reserve Program is part of the farm bill that is awaiting approval in Washington. It would pay Midler the appraised value of the property. Owners often place that money in a fund to cover maintenance costs, as part of the Wetlands Reserve Program to maintain the wetland in perpetuity.
Bette Midler bought her Kaua'i land in 1999.
Reilly said that both community and conservation groups have expressed interest in helping care for the land, and the site could be made into a visitor attraction.
Wildlife biologist Tom Telfer of the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife said that even without improvements, the canals in the area provide habitat for Hawaiian stilts, ducks, coots and gallinules.
"There's quite a bit of potential in there ... The stilts use the brackish water and the koloa (ducks), coots and gallinules use the fresh," he said.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at (808) 245-3074 or via e-mail at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.
