The Hulēia National Wildlife Refuge is a

National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge System is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to c ...

on the island of

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. It is adjacent to the

Menehune Fish Pond The Menehune Fishpond, near Līhuʻe, Hawai`i, on the island of Kaua`i, is a historic Hawaiian fishpond. Also known as Alakoko Fishpond, it has been listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The pond is bounded by a at a large b ...

, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, on the southeast side of the island. The Hulēia Refuge is approximately of

bottomlands A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

and wooded slopes along the Hulēia River. It was established in 1973 to provide open, productive

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s as nesting and feeding habitat for endangered Hawaiian waterbirds, including the ''āeo'' (Hawaiian stilt, '' Himantopus mexicanus knudseni''), ''alae kea'' ( Hawaiian coot, ''Fulica alai''), alae ula ( Hawaiian gallinule, ''Gallinula chloropus sandvicensis''), and koloa maoli (

Hawaiian duck The Hawaiian duck (''Anas wyvilliana'') or koloa is a species of bird in the family Anatidae that is endemic to the large islands of Hawaii. Taxonomically, the koloa is closely allied with the mallard (''A. platyrhynchos''). It differs in that it ...

, ''Anas wyvilliana'') can be found here.Profile of Huleia National Wildlife Refuge
/ref> To protect and minimize disturbance to the sensitive endangered species that live there, the refuge is closed to all public access. However, shoreline access is provided just to the east at

Niumalu Beach Park Niumalu Beach Park is a county beach park in the district of Niumalu on the south-east coast of the island of Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands. It is located on Nāwiliwili Bay, about south of Līhue. The Hulēʻia National Wildlife Refuge is ...

References

External links

Refuge website
National Wildlife Refuges in Hawaii Protected areas of Kauai Wetlands of Hawaii Protected areas established in 1973 Landforms of Kauai 1973 establishments in Hawaii {{Hawaii-geo-stub