Posted on: Friday, March 8, 2002

Agency seeks new franchisee for Midway Atoll

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer

Midway Atoll is a federal wildlife refuge, but its attraction as a tourist destination also involves its World War II history. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service oversees the atoll. Advertiser library photo

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is looking for a new operator for ecotourism activities at Midway Atoll, following an announcement yesterday that it and Midway Phoenix are ending their relationship at the remote site.

It means that Midway Atoll — the first federal wildlife refuge with a residential ecotourism facility — will be effectively closed to the public for several more months, although the service says it remains committed to tourism there and "fully intends to reopen Midway to visitors."

Midway Phoenix vice president Bob Tracey said he believes no company will be able to operate Midway under the kind of agreement his firm had. Midway Phoenix recently had unsuccessfully sought a subsidy to help cover its costs at the atoll.

"I feel certain that, strictly from a business standpoint, there's no contracting group in the world that is going to go out there and do it for free. We certainly couldn't make it work, doing it for free," Tracey said.

Midway Phoenix and the Fish and Wildlife Service signed a cooperative agreement five years ago, on the assumption that the firm's tourism activities and airline fees would cover its costs of maintaining facilities. It didn't work out, partly because tourism never developed to the level both sides had expected.

A month ago, Midway Phoenix canceled further airline flights to the atoll and announced it was preparing to withdraw from its management and remove its 150-odd employees. The firm continued lobbying to alter its deal with the Fish and Wildlife Service, or have Midway turned over to another government agency — perhaps the National Park Service, which has more experience with visitor activities. No progress has been announced on those fronts.

Visitors in recent years flew to the island on weekly Aloha Airlines charter flights. They stayed in converted barracks. They could tour military history sites, view nesting sea birds, turtles and seals, and go charter fishing and diving.

Midway Phoenix has complained that the Fish and Wildlife Service's singleminded agenda of protecting wildlife hampered tourism activities. One of the key issues turned out to be the introduced ironwood trees that had covered the islands within Midway Atoll.

The service removed all the ironwoods from one of the islands, Eastern Island, to create more and better habitat for sea birds. Some trees also were killed at Sand Island, where all human activities take place.

Some residents and former residents complained that the removal of the trees left the islands unsightly, and also altered the historically significant appearance of the site. Midway was the focus of the World War II battle that turned the tide in the Pacific, and ironwood trees were there at the time.

The fast-spreading trees were introduced to the island in the days when it was a land link in a trans-Pacific cable and a place for ocean-crossing aircraft to stop for refueling. The trees were put in to provide shade for humans and to help keep the soil from eroding. The Fish and Wildlife Service plans to replace them with native vegetation, which tends to be lower-growing.

Some residents also complained that Fish and Wildlife Service personnel arbitrarily closed access to Eastern Island at almost all times, and to parts of Sand Island. Wildlife officials said they closed off areas to protect nesting animals, and to restrict humans from too close contact to endangered Hawaiian monk seals when they hauled out on beaches.

"In 2000, 14 monk seal pups were born on the atoll's beaches, the highest number ever recorded. In 2001, another 12 pups were born," the service said in a news release. Green sea turtles, which during the 1970s were seldom seen at Midway, now are common visitors, it said.

The primary purpose of Midway will continue to be its role as a wildlife refuge, although tourism is viewed as important, said Anne Badgley, Pacific region director of the Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Allowing visitors to learn about remote atoll ecosystems and the importance of these tiny dots in the ocean to vast numbers of wildlife, and to honor those who first established residence on the atoll and those who later defended not only the atoll but America herself, has always been part of our vision for Midway," Badgley said.

To keep the island operating, the service said it will issue to Midway Phoenix a temporary permit to keep running the airport, power plant, water system and other facilities on the island until May 1. Midway Phoenix, which has already started its withdrawal, is to have all its staff and property removed from the atoll by May 8.

One of the revenue sources for the firm was from airlines running modern twin-jet planes across the Pacific. Under aviation rules, these planes must have an emergency landing location in mid-ocean, since they may not be able to make it to the Mainland in case of a mid-flight engine failure.

The airlines had been paying Midway Phoenix to keep the Midway airport open, but the Federal Aviation Administration withdrew its certification of the field in February. Midway Phoenix is required under its temporary agreement to revive that certification.

A new operator would continue to run the airport at Midway, which is 1,200 miles from the main Hawaiian Islands.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808)245-3074.