Burt Guttman quoted me:
>>At Midway Atoll, a nine-hole course can't help but run through the
>>albatross colony, because Laysan Albatrosses nest virtually everywhere.

>>Midway's ultimate hazards were the petrel colonies--let your ball
>>get in there and down a burrow it goes.

...and then he asked:
>Why does there have to be a golf course on Midway? What goes on there
>these days, now that WW II (I hear) is over? Why can't it be left to the
>albatrosses and petrels?

Don't worry, Burt, or anyone else, the golf course is in disrepair, it
gets little use, and the albatrosses are more numerous now than ever. (The
petrels are doing well, too.)
I would love to write a book on the changes to Midway's avifauna over
the past century. But I haven't the time right now. I'll offer a few
tidbits, though, based on Burt's queries...
The 9-hole golf course at Midway has been there for decades. I'm not
sure it was there during WWII--I think it probably was--but it offered
amusement for servicemen and their families during the wars in Korea and
Viet Nam. Midway supported 5000 people or more during the 50s and 60s--many
more than during WWII. Some amenities were necessary.
Midway was an early target of the Base Realignment and Closure Act and
Naval Air Station Midway Island was officially closed in the fall of 1993.
The Navy and their contractors are in the process of "cleaning up" the
islands before they depart altogether in the next few years.
In 1988, Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge was overlaid on the
islands, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now manages the plant and
animal life on the islands.
The current population stands at 150-200, I think. Maybe a few more.
Almost all of the people are base support services contractors and the
majority are third-country nationals (Sri Lankans, Thai, and Filipinos).
The last time I talked with someone about Midway's post-Navy future, it
was still being negotiated. I expect the USFWS to maintain a presence there
(as opposed to periodic visits to monitor populations). There's interest in
ecotourism. It will also help the Coast Guard and others if an airstrip is
maintained.
One of the two major islands is already off limits to virtually everyone
except FWS biologists and managers. The other island also belongs, clearly,
to the birds.
Fifteen seabird species nest at Midway, and the atoll supports the
largest Laysan Albatross colony on earth (the unquestionable result of human
occupancy). More Red-tailed Tropicbirds, Black Noddies, and White (Fairy)
Terns nest there than anywhere else in the Hawaiian chain.
The atoll and its islands have been so completely modified since the
turn of the century that there is no going back to pre-settlement
conditions, except, possibly, in the event of a tsunami or, better, ice age.
Despite all the horrid things that have been done out there by humans, "we"
created new habitats that have caused almost every bird population to grow,
in some cases exponentially.
--
Scott Richardson
NE Seattle
salix at halcyon.com