From the Friends of Hakalau Website: Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1985 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, consists of two distinct parcels. The Hakalau Forest Unit is a 32,830 acre parcel on the windward slopes of Mauna Kea on Hawaii Island. In 1997 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service purchased 5,300 acres south of Kailua-Kona, on the slopes of Mauna Loa, which became the Kona Forest Unit. In 2019, an additional 10,000 acres were added to the Kona Unit through the purchase of McCandless Ranch lands that are adjacent to the original parcel, making the total acreage for the Kona Forest Unit 15,448 acres.
The higher elevation Hakalau Forest Unit contains some of the finest remaining stands of native montane rain forest in Hawaii and habitat for 29 critically endangered species including seven birds, one insect, one mammal and 20 plants found nowhere else in the world. Currently, it is the only place in Hawaii where native forest bird populations are stable or increasing.
Presentation length: 42 minutes
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About Your Guide
Jack Jeffrey
Jack started his Pacific journey when he moved to Guam in the mid 1960’s from the East Coast where he was born. He went to Hawaii on a two week vacation over 45 years ago and never looked back. Over that time he has been involved with research, management, and conservation of Hawaii’s critically endangered forest birds and their habitats. He worked as a biologist for US Fish and Wildlife Service conducting the Hawaii Forest Bird Survey in the late 70’s and early 80’s and later was fortunate enough the become the first Wildlife Biologist at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, a job he held for 18 years. After retirement he started a birding and photography tour company “Hawaii Birds LLC” and currently leads photography and birding tours and workshops in Hawaii, as well as other areas of the world. Jack started photographing birds in the early 1970s’and continues to use his photo artistry combining a naturalist’s curiosity with photographer’s patience and technical skill to produce beautiful images of many bird species throughout the world. Jack is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the Ansel Adams’ Award for Conservation Photography, the Distinguished Service Award in Conservation from the Hawaii Conservation Alliance, Conservationist of the Year from both the Hawaii Audubon Society and The Sierra Club, and the 2007 Kako’o Aina Award from the The Nature Conservancy. His work can be seen in many publications, magazines, books, galleries, and online.
