Crossing boundaries to protect native species Crossing boundaries at Haleakala: the struggle to 19 get improved quarantine protection prior to expansion of Maui’s airport DONALD W. REESER, Haleakala National Park, P.O. Box 369, Makawao, Hawai’i, 96768;
[email protected] The Park Service will be given as much opportunity to comment on the EIS as any other member of the public. — David Welhouse, Federal Aviation Administration airport planner, quoted in The Maui News, 7 May 1996 I had been superintendent of Haleakala National Park for little more than a year when on October 23, 1989, Lloyd Loope, a research scientist, briefed me about plans to expand Maui’s airport to accommodate international flights. The $250-mil- lion expansion project and perceived economic benefits had widespread support from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the governor of Hawai’i, state leg- islators, the Hawai’i Department of Transportation (HDOT), the Maui mayor, and business. They eagerly anticipated Maui-to-Japan direct flights. Loope said that without better alien species prevention measures, the project would expose Maui to a greater quantity of biological invaders and new sources of origin. He stated that be- cause oceanic island ecosystems are so susceptible to invasions and because Maui has such a diversity of habitats in close proximity to the airport, the project would result in severe ecological consequences for the park. In my daily notes I wrote ap- prehensively: “Not so sure I want to get involved!” What business did the National Park Service (NPS) have concerning itself with this issue? The airport is 15 miles from the park boundary.