2016 Status Report for the Makua and Oahu Implementation Plans Prepared by: The Oahu Army Natural Resources Program THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Daniel Adamski Natural Resource Management Coordinator Michelle Akamine Monitoring Program Specialist Makanani Akiona Propagule Research Technician Jane Beachy Ecosystem Restoration Program Manager Tyler Bogardus Small Vertebrate Pest Stabilization Specialist Matthew Burt Elepaio Stabilization/Ungulate Program Coordinator Vincent Costello Rare Snail Conservation Specialist Deena Gary Natural Resource Management Technician Celeste Hanley Environmental Outreach Specialist Jessica Hawkins Natural Resource Management Technician Scott Heintzman Senior Natural Resource Management Specialist Stephanie Joe Alien Invertebrate Control and Research Specialist Roy Kam Natural Resource Database Specialist Kapua Kawelo Natural Resource Manager (DPW, U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii) Eli Kimmerle Senior Natural Resource Management Specialist Linda Koch Natural Resource GIS Specialist Arya Koushki Natural Resource Management Technician Julia Lee Senior Ecosystem Restoration Specialist Karl Magnacca Entomological Program Specialist Taylor Marsh Ecosystem Restoration Specialist Taylor McCarthy Support Operations Supervisor Kahale Pali Natural Resource Management Coordinator Jobriath Rohrer Senior Natural Resource Management Coordinator Daniel Sailer Senior Natural Resource Management Coordinator Kelly Tschannen Natural Resource Management Technician Clifford Smith Natural Resource Operations Manager Philip Taylor Natural Resource Avian Conservation Specialist Jamie Tanino Rare Invertebrate Conservation Specialist Melissa Valdez Senior Natural Resource Management Specialist Michael Walker Natural Resource Management Coordinator Lauren Weisenberger Rare Plant Program Manager Kimberly Welch Environmental Outreach Specialist *Cover photo: Dubautia herbstobatae reintroduction on the cliffs of Makaha Valley. 2016 Makua and Oahu Implementation Plan Status Report i THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Oahu Army Natural Resources Program (OANRP) has 60 personnel on staff, comprised of management and administrative support staff, an ecosystem restoration crew, an ungulate management crew, three resource management crews, and a nursery/seed bank crew. Most of these staff are employed via a Cooperative Agreement funded by the Army through the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research (PICHTR) and administered by the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii-Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit (PCSU). Staff levels in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 were slightly higher than those in FY 2015. For FY 2016, OANRP received a total of $6,210,148 to implement Makua Implementation Plan projects and Tier 1 projects from the Oahu Implementation Plan. This included funding for new and ongoing research initiatives, contracted fence construction projects, contracted bat survey work, and ongoing rat control services. As in FY 2015, for FY 2016, OANRP did not receive funding for OIP Tier 2 and Tier 3 projects as there was no training conducted that could impact the species at the Tier 2 and 3 levels, as specified in the 2003 Oahu Biological Opinion. This status report (report) serves as the annual report for participating landowners, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the Implementation Team (IT) overseeing the Makua Implementation Plan (MIP) and Oahu Implementation Plan (OIP). The period covered in this report is July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016. This report covers Year 12 of the MIP and Year 9 of the OIP. Hawaiian diacriticals are not used in this document except in some appendices in order to simplify formatting. Please refer to Appendix ES-1, Spelling of Hawaiian Names. OANRP completes thousands of actions each year to implement the MIP and OIP (IPs); the results of those myriad activities are summarized in this report. The report presents summary tables analyzing changes to population units of plants and snails over the last year and since the IPs were completed, as well as updates on new projects and technologies. More detailed information for all IP taxa is available via the program database supplied on CD (see Appendix ES-2 for a tutorial of how to use this database). OANRP is reporting on the twelth year of the MIP Addendum (Addendum completed in 2005, original finalized in 2003) and the ninth year of the OIP (finalized in 2008). The MIP Addendum emphasized management for stability of three Population Units (PUs) per plant taxon in the most intact habitat and 300 individuals of Achatinella mustelina in each Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU). The original Makua Biological Opinion (BO) in 2007 and amended BO in 2008, both issued by the USFWS, require that the Army provide threat control for all Oahu Elepaio (Chasiempis ibidis) pairs in the Makua Action Area, stabilize 28 plant taxa and Achatinella mustelina, and take significant precautions to control the threat and spread of fire as a result of the 2007 Waialua fire that destroyed individuals and habitat of Hibiscus brackenridgei subsp. mokuleianus. The OIP outlines stabilization measures for 23 additional plant taxa, the Oahu Elepaio, and six extant Koolau Achatinella species. Since the OIP was finalized, two additional species were added requiring stabilization, Drosophila montgomeryi and Drosophila substenoptera. Of the OIP plants, management activities are conducted with eleven taxa that are present in the Schofield Barracks West Range Action Area and in the Kahuku Training Area. In 2016, OANRP did not receive funding to support the remaining 12 OIP plant taxa and the six Koolau Achatinella species because of the lack of Army training impacts to these taxa in the Kawailoa Training Area. The MIP and OIP also requires surveys of Army Landing Zones for weeds and the prevention and control of weeds on training areas. The Army contracted the Center for Environmental Management of Military lands based at Colorado State University to prepare an updated biological assessment for the Army to enter into formal consultation for Oahu training ranges (including Makua Military Reservation). This document will include an analysis of the potential impacts from Army training (including weed spread) on the twenty 2016 Makua and Oahu Implementation Plan Status Report ii Executive Summary plant taxa given federal status in August 2012. The decision was made recently to include Makua Military Reservation in this Biological Assesssment (BA), while in previous consultations, Oahu and Makua had been kept separate. This approach allows the Army to present a combined analysis of impacts to Oahu’s endangered species. The draft BA is expected in December 2016 and a Biological Opinion from the USFWS is anticipated by the middle of 2017 calendar year. Management or stabilization requirements will be determined through the consultation process and outlined in the Biological Opinion to be issued upon completion of this process. Infrastructure The OANRP baseyard located on Schofield Barracks is complete. This baseyard includes three office buildings, one greenhouse, a seed storage facility, a workshop, an invasive species mitigation area (i.e., wash rack), pesticide storage, gear storage areas, and an interpretive garden. A generator was installed at the OANRP baseyard during this reporting period to serve as a backup power source for the seed storage equipment and nursery watering system. Nursery improvements also included partially covering shadehouses with plastic to improve fungal and pest control, automating the watering system, and increasing capacity for a common native growing area. OANRP was recently granted permission to utilize the former landfill site directly adjacent to Area X for a living collection orchard for some of endangered plant species. This site will be planted in FY 2017. Outreach staff continue to maintain the East Range baseyard because it is a convenient location to rendez-vous for volunteer trips. Also, with the assistance of a combat engineering unit, significant improvements were made to a landing zone and access road near the Kaluaa-Waieli Management Unit. Various field infrastructural improvements unrelated to fencing were also done including several new water catchments, a culvert repair and erosion control at Schofield Barracks North Firebreak Road, and erosion control improvements to two snail enclosures. Access to several areas in the Kahuku Training Area was also improved with the assistance of Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal units who blew up or removed old ordnance found in the course of field work. Landowner/Agency Cooperative Agreements and Partnerships OANRP could not meet stabilization goals without the cooperation of public and private landowners and agencies. OANRP continues to operate under a 20-year license agreement with Kamehameha Schools (KS) (expiring November 2030) and a license agreement with Hawaii Reserves, Inc. (expiring March 2017). The four-year license agreement with the Honolulu Board of Water Supply expired in November 2014; however; the Army and BWS real estate staff are actively working on a renewal. In addition, the Army did acquired a right of entry permit with the new landowners for Hibiscus brackenridgei subsp. mokuleianus surveys and monitoring in the Waialua area. The Army also continues to work cooperatively under an MOU with the U.S. Navy for work in Lualualei Naval Magazine. Lastly, the Army renewed its annual right of entry permit to protect Oahu Elepaio