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In February 2006 training took place at the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge located on the island of Ohau. This training brought together refuge staff and volunteers from various refuge complexes located on a number of islands in the Hawaiian island chain, including Ohau, Maui, the big island, Kauai, and the Pacific remote islands. GPS mapping technology will be used at refuges on these islands to map the critical infestations of invasive weeds taking over the islands and threatening the habitat of native plants and wildlife.
James Campbell itself is not a very
large refuge, but it’s an important one. Established
in the late 1970s, this refuge only about 165 acres in size. Formerly a functioning sugar mill property, it currently serves to address the recovery of four endemic waterbirds: Hawaiian stilt, Hawaiian moorhen, Hawaiian coot, and Hawaiian duck. All four birds are listed as Federally Endangered due to their precipitous decline in the 20th century.
Inadvertently,
James Campbell NWR has also become the home for such non-natives as
California grass and giant salvinia. The California grass
can grow up to six feet in length in a single month, choking
the life out of the local ponds. The giant salvinia is a dense
water-fern with it origins from South America. Its rapid growth,
vegetative reproduction, and significant tolerance to environmental
stress make it a highly aggressive and competitive species.
Management
goals on the refuge include enhancement of the wetland areas
to maximize the production and survival of the endangered
Hawaiian waterbirds. The GPS mapping system used by refuge
volunteers in this training is essential to that goal.
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