U.S. Army Garrison Hawai‘i’s Schofield Barracks is home to an elite unit whose mission is to protect the island of O‘ahu from invasion.
They use helicopters and four-wheel drive vehicles; often rappel down steep mountainsides; and use their highly trained special skills to carry out their assigned objectives.
While the description certainly brings to one’s mind the famed U.S. Army Rangers, this group utilizes their specialized acumen and knowledge in conservation biology to protect endangered species and habitats on more than 50,000 acres of U.S. Army training ground on the island. They are members of the Army Natural Resource Program on O‘ahu (ANRPO), an approximately $21 million project funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Army.
As a federal agency, the U.S. Army is required by the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to protect any federally listed endangered or threatened animals and plants in their training areas and to ensure they are not negatively impacted. Additionally, they are bound by the Sikes Act that covers wildlife, fish and game conservation and rehabilitation on military reservations.
“In Hawai‘i, the U.S. Army is responsible for over 120 endangered plants and animals, the highest number of endangered species for any Army garrison in the United States,” said U.S. Army Garrison Hawai‘i Natural Resource Manager Kapua Kawelo. “Through ANRPO, the U.S. Army is able to maintain compliance in their five O‘ahu training areas, enabling service members from the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, National Guard and Reserve, as well as local law enforcement agencies, to successfully maintain their operational readiness.”
The ANRPO team consists of two U.S. Army Garrison Hawai‘i civilian employees and over 50 contract biologists and technicians who protect the native habitats via removal of pigs and goats from fenced units, invasive plant control and eradication, vegetation restoration, and rodent and slug control. In addition, ANRPO maintains and increases populations of endangered plants and animals through monitoring, cultivation and reintroduction. The program collaborates and consults extensively with conservation entities across the state of Hawai‘i including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hawai‘i State Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Hawai‘i State Department of Land and Natural Resources, the O‘ahu Invasive Species Committee, the Hawaiian Seed Bank Partnership, the Hawai‘i Rare Plant Restoration Group, and the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, as well as many other municipal and private entities.
As new challenges and obstacles arise that often require innovative solutions, ANRPO regularly partners with researchers from various institutions and agencies from around the world. While the University of Hawai‘i has always been the defacto institution due to its location and expertise, a much stronger research relationship has developed when the University of Hawai‘i Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation (OVPRI) entered into a cooperative agreement to administratively oversee ANRPO in 2018.
“The outstanding conservation work done by ANRPO is not only vital to the operational readiness of military forces in Hawai‘i, but also to preserving and maintaining the state’s finite natural resources and habitats,” said UH Vice President for Research and Innovation Vassilis L. Syrmos. “The partnership allows us to seamlessly integrate our excellent cadre of researchers to work collaboratively with ANRPO staff to find innovative solutions to constantly evolving issues in environmental stewardship.”
While ANRPO works with researchers from a variety of departments at UH, a strong partnership has developed with the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management (NREM) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. At all levels, from professors to graduate and undergraduate students, NREM provides ongoing support to ANRPO.
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