HONOLULU— In response to litigation from the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today designated 119,326 acres as protected critical habitat for 11 plants and a Hawaiian picture-wing fly on the island of Hawai‘i. The protected habitat is in 21 distinct areas stretching from the coast through dry forest and grasslands to rainforests on the slopes of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

“This is terrific news. There’s just no way to save these severely endangered species without protecting and restoring the places they call home,” said Maxx Phillips, Hawai‘i director at the Center. “Protecting habitat is a crucial step but more needs to be done to address threats from fire, development and invasive species like rats and non-native grasses.”

The U.S. Department of Defense’s Pōhakuloa Training Area was excluded from critical habitat even though it is the only place where the māʻoliʻoli plant, or schiedea hawaiiensisi, is found. The dry forests they need to survive are severely threatened by fires caused by the military’s training activities.

Critical habitat was instead designated on the adjacent Pu‘u Anahulu Game Management Area over the objections of the state. This area, as well as another game management area at Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a, were the subject of a habitat conservation plan drafted by the state in 2017, but never finalized.

“Hawai‘i’s forest, grassland and coastal habitats are breaking down before our very eyes under the relentless onslaught of invasive species and destructive development,” said Phillips. “My heart is breaking at the loss of so many of our plants and animals that can be found nowhere else on the planet. We have to make restoring these critical habitat areas our highest priority.”

The Fish and Wildlife Service declined to designate critical habitat for two additional species, an anchialine pool shrimp and the loulu palm, or pritchardia lanigera. The Service claimed that designating critical habitat may increase the likelihood these species would be taken by collectors. Both are severely imperiled like the 12 species that did receive habitat protections.