[SFDXA] From ARRL: US Fish and Wildlife Service Okays Baker Island DXpeditions, with Strict Conditions

[Bill]

*_US Fish and Wildlife Service Okays Baker Island DXpeditions, with 
Strict Conditions_*
06/20/2017

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (*FWS* <https://www.fws.gov/>) has 
agreed that a DXpedition to Baker and Howland Islands (KH1) — the fourth 
most-wanted DXCC entity — would be an acceptable use, but has detailed 
strict conditions under which it would issue a special use permit (SUP) 
to allow such use. The FWS recently completed a compatibility 
determination for Amateur Radio operation on Baker Island National 
Wildlife Refuge, and two dozen *comments* 
<https://www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/Region_1/NWRS/Zone_1/Pacific_Reefs_Complex/Baker_island/Sections/News/News_Items/response20comments20v6.12.17.pdf> showed 
“strong support” for Amateur Radio operation on the ecologically 
sensitive island refuge, the FWS said. Baker Island is 1,830 nautical 
miles southwest of Honolulu — an 8-day voyage.

“While…not a wildlife dependent public use according to National 
Wildlife Refuge Administration Act of 1966, as amended, Amateur Radio 
operation is a use that assists in the management of the resources 
indirectly,” the FWS said in its *Compatibility Determination* 
<https://www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/Region_1/NWRS/Zone_1/Pacific_Reefs_Complex/Baker_island/Sections/News/News_Items/CD_Baker20NWR_Amateur20v.6.9.17.pdf>, 
released on June 8. “By allowing Amateur Radio operators to visit the 
PRIMNM refuges, the refuges benefit through the ability of staff to 
visit remote island sites to monitor wildlife populations, habitats, 
detect invasive species introductions, and perform management actions 
that would otherwise require the Service to charter a vessel.”

Citing an estimated cost of at least $250,000 to charter a vessel with a 
14-day layover, the FWS noted that “most of the remote island refuges 
within the PRIMNM are rarely visited due to budget constraints.”

Baker and Howland Islands are part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine 
National Monument (*PRIMNM* 
<https://www.fws.gov/refuge/pacific_remote_islands_marine_national_monument/>), 
created by former President George W. Bush under the authority of the 
Antiquities Act of 1906. The monument was expanded by President Barack 
Obama.

The Compatibility Determination mandated 18 stipulations for Amateur 
Radio DXpeditions visiting the Refuge. Among them: “All General 
Conditions of the SUP would apply to Amateur Radio operator expeditions. 
This includes the Special Conditions that stipulate stringent quarantine 
procedures, vessel inspections and certifications, anchoring and landing 
requirements, wildlife avoidance measures, zero-impact requirements, and 
reporting requirements. Biosecurity requirements will be part of the SUP.”

A DXpedition to the Refuge could last up to 14 days, with only 12 days 
of radio operation, given that deployment and breakdown of the camp and 
radio equipment usually takes 2 days on each end of the trip, the FWS 
has estimated.

“Complete avoidance of seabird colonies will minimize nest disturbance 
and prevent burrow nest cave-ins,” the FWS said in its Compatibility 
Determination. “Activities on Baker Island will always attract the land 
crabs that inhabit this location. All efforts must be taken to avoid 
inadvertently feeding or entrapping these animals.”

The FWS would also have to approve QSL cards to ensure that they include 
“an informative or educational statement about the Refuge.” The FWS 
called QSLs “a valuable outreach tool.”

The K1B Baker Island DXpedition logged 96,000 contacts./ — Thanks to 
/*The Daily DX* <http://www.dailydx.com/>/, FWS/

http://www.arrl.org/news/us-fish-and-wildlife-service-okays-baker-island-dxpeditions-with-strict-conditions