Inventory and Monitoring Plan Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge August 2019 June 2019 1 | Page Kellia Pond National Wildlife Refuge Inventory and Monitoring Plan Signature Page Action Signature /PriDted Name Date Bethany Chagnon (WiJdlife Refuge Specialist) By: Prcn,arecl Rachel Rounds (Zone l&M Biologist) Submitted By: Reviewed By: Reviewed By: Reviewed By: Approved By: Table of Contents Signature Page Introduction Methods Results References Appendices Appendix A. Key Legal Mandates and Policies for Inventorying and Monitoring Activities on Units of the NWRS Appendix B. Criteria Appendix B. Criteria and Weights Used to Prioritize Surveys (SMART Tool Table) Appendix C. Results: Prioritization Scores and Status All Ranked Surveys Appendix D. Brief Description of Non-selected Surveys Appendix E. Research Projects IMP Revision Signature Page June 2019 3 | Page Introduction A. Scope and rationale This inventory and monitoring plan (IMP) presents current and expected inventory and monitoring (I&M) activities (surveys) for Keālia Pond NWR (Keālia Pond NWR or Refuge). Most surveys in this IMP are refuge-specific; they evaluate and refine efficacy of resource management actions and measure progress toward achieving resource management objectives identified in refuge planning documents. Some surveys also gather baseline data to develop practical and measurable objectives for restoration projects, or provide baseline data on biological integrity of the Refuge. The IMP also includes cooperative surveys addressing resource issues of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) at larger landscape scales beyond the refuge boundary (e.g., archipelagic) or needs of other agencies and organizations. For cooperative surveys, refuge lands are one of multiple sites including other refuges to address broad-scale resource information needs. Key components of this IMP include a comprehensive list of surveys, prioritization of these surveys, surveys selected for implementation, status of protocols for surveys, a rationale for each survey including its connection with management objectives, and a signature page documenting IMP review and approval. Although the IMP identifies many surveys that would need to be conducted on the Refuge, the number of surveys implemented on an annual basis is contingent upon a number of factors, including available refuge funding and staffing as well as support from partners. B. Refuge Purpose(s) Keālia Pond NWR was established in 1992, under the authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) to preserve, restore, and manage essential habitat for two endangered Hawaiian waterbirds: the ae‘o (Hawaiian stilt) and ‘alae ke‘oke‘o (Hawaiian coot). The 704-acre Refuge is situated along the south-central shore of Maui in the isthmus separating the West Maui Mountains from the East Maui volcano, Haleakalā. Refuge habitats include open water (200 acres), vegetated flats (450 acres), and upland (54 acres). The Refuge is an important foraging and nesting area for Hawai‘i’s endangered wetland birds, and it supports hundreds of migratory shorebirds and waterfowl during winter months. In addition, the Refuge provides coastal beach strand habitat for native plant species, endangered ‘īlioholo- i-ka-uaua (Hawaiian monk seal), threatened honu (Hawaiian green turtle), and endangered honu‘ea (hawksbill turtle). Keālia Pond NWR was established with the purpose “… to conserve (A) fish or wildlife which are listed as endangered species or threatened species, or (B) plants …” (16 U.S.C. 1534, ESA). The Service acquired a perpetual conservation easement from the property owner, Alexander & Baldwin Inc. (A&B), in order to manage the property as a unit of the Refuge System. A conservation easement is defined as a transfer of usage rights from a property owner to the Service that creates a legally enforceable land preservation agreement for the purpose of conservation. The property owner retains partial ownership rights over the land but relinquishes rights to use the property for development. The Service holds interest in the property and is authorized, in accordance with the easement, to manage the property for Refuge purposes in perpetuity. The Refuge was funded through the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965. Prior to establishment as a national wildlife refuge, the Service and State of Hawai‘i periodically conducted avian surveys at Keālia Pond and consistently observed high numbers of ae‘o and ‘alae ke‘oke‘o, both of which were June 2019 4 | Page federally listed as endangered species in 1970. Their endangered status and need for suitable habitat was the impetus for protecting this large wetland from future development. A discussion of the Mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System, legal mandates, and policies relevant to I&M for refuges is provided in Appendix A. Statutory authority for managing and associated resource management planning on refuges is derived from the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, which was significantly amended by the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 (Refuge Improvement Act, 16 U.S.C. 668dd-668ee). Section 4(a)(3) of the Refuge Improvement Act states, “With respect to the System [NWRS], it is the policy of the United States that – (A) each refuge shall be managed to fulfill the mission of the System, as well as the specific purposes for which that refuge was established…” As stated in 701 FW 2.8, surveys should be linked to refuge purpose(s), where applicable. C. Relationship of IMP to other plans An IMP is one of many potential CCP step-down plans that can be prepared for a refuge, as applicable (see Exhibit 1, 602 FW 4). As with any CCP step-down plan, the Project Leader may modify an IMP at any time if new information suggests this plan is inadequate or refuge resources would benefit from changes. The Refuge’s CCP details its relationship to these ecosystem planning efforts. This IMP describes the prioritization and selection of surveys needed to meet objectives outlined in the CCP for Keālia Pond NWR (USFWS 2011a) and therefore by extension, certain objectives described in the related conservation plans. Current management plans for the Refuge include the following: • Fire Management Plan (2004) • Integrated Pest Management Plan (2008) • Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Disease Contingency Plan (2009) • Avian Botulism Disease Contingency Plan (2008) • Practices to Minimize the Introduction of Invasive Species by Service Activities, Oahu/Maui Complex (2017) Other relevant Service and conservation partner plans are the following: • Recovery Plan for Hawaiian Waterbirds (USFWS 2011b) • Hawai‘i State Wildlife Action Plan (2015) • PICCC Strategic Plan (2014-2019) Methods A. Identify a Comprehensive List of Refuge Surveys The IMP team for Keālia Pond NWR includes Bethany Chagnon (Wildlife Refuge Specialist), Glenn Klingler (Project Leader), Suzanne Conlon (Biological Technician), and Rachel Rounds (I&M Zone Biologist). The IMP team met on May 29 - 30, 2019, to review PRIMR surveys, finalize the prioritization tool, and then prioritize and select surveys. The surveys documented in this IMP were identified as important to refuge management as defined by the CCP, step-down management plans, regional priorities, and unique refuge resources. Although this created a comprehensive list, the IMP is designed to be a flexible document that can be revised if additional surveys need to be added and selected in the future. A review of Refuge files revealed other surveys previously conducted in the past. June 2019 5 | Page The final list of current, expected, future, and historic surveys was created in the PRIMR application through discussion by the IMP team at the 2019 meeting. The IMP team defined a current survey as one conducted by current Refuge staff or conducted by a partner or cooperator. An expected survey is one that requires additional staff or expertise, but refuge staff believes funding will be available during the timeframe of the IMP (including from a Cooperative Recovery Initiative [CRI] grant). Future surveys are defined as surveys that will require additional resources to complete, or that may be required in the future for regulatory reasons. Historic surveys occurred in the past, but they will not occur again during the lifecycle of this IMP. B. Prioritize Refuge Surveys The IMP team used the Simple Multi-Attribute Ranking Technique (SMART Tool) as a decision support mechanism to prioritize surveys. The IMP team chose and rated Smart Tool criteria and then evaluated and prioritized surveys. The IMP team selected 11 criteria in the SMART Tool to generate a score for each survey (Appendix B). The IMP team evaluated 15 current and expected surveys during prioritization. Once the final scores were generated from the SMART tool, the IMP team grouped all the surveys into high, medium, and low priority categories based upon their scores. The team also determined if surveys should remain current or expected, be archived as historic, or changed to a future status. Rounds facilitated the discussions, but she had no input in choice of evaluation criteria, prioritization, or selection of surveys. C. Select Refuge Surveys In accordance with the I&M policy, the IMP team considered the following factors when selecting surveys: Prioritization results. The team considered whether the survey ranked as high, medium, or low priority from the SMART Tool results. Capacity to complete survey: The team estimated the number of FWS or partner staff hours needed to