272 acres designated for Kaua'i cave creatures
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer
KOLOA, Kaua'i — Two tiny underground creatures that most people would never notice unless they went cave-exploring have been given 272 acres of critical habitat in south Kaua'i by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The acreage, broken up into 14 parcels, was reduced 94 percent from a preliminary proposal of 4,193 acres.
"When you compare this to what was proposed before, this is good news," said Tom Shigemoto, a vice president of A&B Properties. The Fish and Wildlife Service originally proposed hundreds of acres of A&B's Kukui'ula project as critical habitat for the Kaua'i cave amphipod and the Kaua'i cave spider, but cut that to 33 acres in three parcels.
Service officials said the reduction is due to new information that many of the areas were unsuitable habitat. Both species lack eyes, having evolved in dark underground caverns.
The new designation was published in yesterday's Federal Register and takes effect in 30 days.
The two cave animals are found only on Kaua'i's south side.
The spider is the only eyeless member of the wolf spider family, sometimes referred to as big-eyed hunting spiders.
The amphipod, a tiny shrimp-like creature, eats vegetative material such as roots that penetrate caves. The spider is a carnivore and may eat the amphipods.
Landowners were concerned that critical habitat designation could reduce the value of their property by restricting development potential.
"This was a big concern to us," said Grove Farm Vice President Michael Furukawa, whose firm owned much of the land initially proposed for designation. "We dug up a lot of old drilling logs and provided them with other information that showed that the caves are pretty much confined to particular areas and not really widespread."
A&B hired entomologist Frank Howarth, who discovered the creatures, so he could more accurately describe the areas on company land where the species could exist.
"We're glad we were able to resolve this amicably," Shigemoto said.
Paul Henson, field supervisor for the service's Pacific Islands office, said the assistance of the landowners was critical in creating clear, accurate descriptions of the best habitat for the creatures.
"We were provided with a significant amount of new scientific information regarding site-specific conditions on lands that were part of the proposed critical habitat," Henson said.
One significant change was that areas with little soil were more likely to be home to the animals, while most former sugar lands were removed from designation.
"We know that areas with more than 12 inches of soil deposits generally are unsuitable because the soil tends to fill the caves and mesocaverns where these animals live," Henson said.
The habitat areas include two extensive coastal sections covering 147 acres of the new habitat, running from near the Hyatt Regency Kaua'i to the cliffs approaching Kipu Kai. Two cinder cones totaling 26 acres mauka of Makahu'ena Point are included.
On A&B land, there are two 16-acre parcels and a one-acre plot at the western side of the Po'ipu resort area.
