ENDANGERED SPECIES RECOVERY COMMITTEE (ESRC) MEETING Hui ‘Ōpe’ape’a Bat Workshop March 5, 2020 Meeting Minutes Meeting Location: University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa Campus Center, Executive Dining Room MEMBERS: David Smith (DLNR), Jim Jacobi (USGS), Michelle Bogardus (USFWS), Melissa Price (UH), Loyal Mehrhoff (At-Large), Kawika Winter (At-Large), Lisa Spain (At-Large) STAFF: DOFAW: Lauren Taylor, Koa Matsuoka, Afsheen Siddiqi, Lainie Berry, Marigold Zoll, Tiana Bolosan, Lindsey Nietmann OTHERS: Darren LeBlanc, Lasha-Lynn Salbosa, Adam Vorsino, Rebecca Frager, George Akau, Rachel Moseley, Theresa Menard, Dave Young, Joel Thompson, Amanda Ehrenkrantz, Marie VanZandt, Marcos Gorresen, Kristin Jonasson, Kristina Montoya-Aiona, Corinna Pinzari, Bob Peck, Tom Snetsinger, John Ugland, Lily Henning, Matt Stelmach, Taylor Shimabukuro, Jason Preble, Ilana Nimz, Frank Bonaccorso, Karen Courtot AGENDA ITEM 1. Call to order. Introduction of Committee members and staff. Format and goals of the workshop. ITEM 2. Regulatory status of the Hawaiian Hoary Bat. Incidental Take Licenses and permitted take to date: Lauren Taylor, Division of Forestry and Wildlife LAUREN TAYLOR: Thank you everybody for coming and to everyone who is invested in Hawaiian Hoary Bats. My name is Lauren Taylor. I’m the Habitat Conservation Planning Coordinator for protected species for the State of Hawaii. The Hawaiian Hoary Bat Workshop is actually an ESRC meeting since we have quorum. I’m going to talk about the purpose of the workshop, the regulatory context, and why we’re doing it. The purpose of this workshop is to guide the Endangered Species Recovery Committee in making recommendations for the endangered Hawaiian Hoary Bat in Habitat Conservation Plan development. The secondary purpose, because it is the mechanism that the recommendations will be provided to Incidental Take License applicants in the future, is to update the Hawaiian Hoary Bat Guidance Document. We’ve started a draft update for 2020. The original document was provided in 2015 and since then we’ve learned a lot about the bat so this is our time to collate that information and update the document. I won’t get much into the species itself since that is what this workshop is for, but I will mention a couple things that make the species unique. Beyond its ecological role, the species is one of only two native mammals in Hawaiʻi, and it also holds cultural significance. Although this isn’t something that doesn’t have to be reviewed for regulatory compliance in 195D, it is addressed in other laws like NEPA and HEPA. It’s specifically mentioned in the Kumulipo in the 7th era so 1 that places the bat in a historical context for Hawaiʻi. It’s considered an ‘aumakua to some families here and the word ʻōpeʻapeʻa, the Hawaiian name for the bat, translates to the shape of a taro leaf or a sail. So the Federal Endangered Species Act protected the bat before the State did. In 1970, it was listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969. When that was replaced by the Endangered Species Act in 1973 it retained its endangered listing under that. In 1983, the State endangered species law came into effect and that’s Chapter 195D, Hawaii Revised Statues; all ESA species are incorporated into the State endangered species list, and then we can also list additional species. So the bat was afforded additional protections at that time. In 1997, §195D was amended to include Habitat Conservation Plans. Our first Habitat Conservation Plan and associated Incidental Take License that permitted legal take of the Hawaiian Hoary Bat was issued in 2012. It is important to note that we do work closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and we are required in the statute to coordinate as much as possible with the Federal HCP process and ideally come out with a similar Habitat Conservation Plan at the end, but in practice it doesn’t always work out that way. So for the State we issue an Incidental Take License and what this allows is take, which I will define, of the Hawaiian Hoary bat that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, an otherwise lawful activity. It must be accompanied by a Habitat Conservation Plan. A Habitat Conservation Plan, or HCP, in order to be permitted: must to the maximum extent practicable minimize and mitigate the impacts of the take; shall increase the likelihood that the species will survive and recover; should consider the full range of environmental impacts of that take; and provide net environmental benefits. So the idea is that by allowing the incidental take of this endangered species it will be offset through the actions incorporated in the Habitat Conservation Plan and overall there won’t be a loss in the recovery of the species by permitting this—otherwise we can’t permit it. We get a lot of questions about the word take, which sounds like a sanitized version of what is happening, which most of the time is death of the bat. The reason take is defined the way that it is is because it covers a wide range of species including plants and aquatic life, and there a whole suite of actions that we want to prevent that could harm the species. So take is a collective term. Take is defined as to harm, harass, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect endangered or threatened species of aquatic life or wildlife or an attempt to engage in such conduct. In Hawaiʻi, we currently have six Incidental Take Licenses in effect for bat take at wind energy projects. Three on Maui and three on Oʻahu. For bat take they typically run from 20 to 25 years. I also wanted to touch on why HCPs are an important component of incidental take, and not just because they’re statutorily mandated. They also provide an avenue—we work very closely with the applicants for years developing these plans, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, other agencies, and all the type of people who are here today—to resolve conflicts between endangered species protection and what would otherwise be a legitimate use of natural resources, such as the renewable energy goal the wind farms are trying to reach. They also contribute to endangered species recovery efforts because we’re all working collectively at the same time with a broad overview of what take is happening through the islands. If we just issued licenses for take and there was no planning, or if we just issued fines and did not permit take, overall it wouldn’t lead us to recovery or management of the species. They provide essential ecological 2 information for the species. Especially for the bat, which is incredibly cryptic. The monitoring that occurs at the wind farms and the mitigation sites provides us with a lot of information about the species. So here’s where we’re at for fiscal year 2019; this goes through June 30, 2019, and the reason it doesn’t go to date is because we calculate take with a model. There is observed take but then extrapolate that to a higher number for what we didn’t observe, based on the assumption there was more bat take than what we saw. Since we haven’t finished the full fiscal year 2020, this is just through fiscal year 2019. Since fiscal year 2019, the BLNR has approved two amendments for KWP II and Auwahi which would increase their permitted bat take but has not been included on these charts. So why are we here with the ESRC? The ESRC is mentioned in §195D and they have a significant role in the approval of Habitat Conservation Plans for the State. This slide leads us to why we’re here today. The ESRC is mandated to review all applications and proposals for Habitat Conservation Plans and Incidental Take Licenses and make recommendations, i.e. the guidance document, based on a full review of the best available scientific and other reliable data and in consideration of the cumulative impacts of the proposed action on the recovery potential of the species. They’re going to make a recommendation to the Board of Land and Natural Resources whether or not a Habitat Conservation Plan and Incidental Take License should be approved and issued. They also may consult with persons possessing expertise in such areas as the Committee may deem appropriate and necessary in the course of exercising its duties. So what you’ll see over the next two days is the very complicated nature of estimating impacts to bats and how to mitigate and minimize those impacts, and all the gaps in the knowledge of the species. So that’s why we’re here with this workshop, to provide the best, informed guidance that the ESRC can. So the format of the workshop: after each presentation we’ll have time for a few questions. If you want to get into the details of the science that’s a good time. The ESRC will also ask if there are public comments on each agenda item. Thank you for listening. ITEM 3. Species ecology and current knowledge of the Hawaiian Hoary Bat. Biology and current taxonomy of the bat: Frank Bonaccorso, U.S. Geological Survey retired FRANK BONACCORSO: I’m going to talk a little bit about the difference of opinion that currently exists in the world of mammalogy about what the name of the bat is. Then I just want to give you a real basic overview about some of the more important features of ʻōpeʻapeʻa ecology. Lasiurus semotus, ʻōpeʻapeʻa, the Hawaiian Hoary Bat: there is a consensus that the bat should be considered a full species and no longer a sub-species among mammologists.