Oregon company to operate Pacific wildlife refuge for six months

HONOLULU - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has selected an Oregon company to operate and maintain facilities and equipment at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, officials said Thursday. <br> <br> The Interior Department announced Thursday that a six-month contract that went to GeoEngineers Inc. of Portland is designed to keep the atoll&#39;s infrastructure operational while the service evaluates long-term options for operating the refuge. <br> <br> Ecotourism at Midway Atoll, located 1,200 miles northwest of Hawaii, came to a halt this year when the service and Midway Phoenix Corp. of Georgia dissolved their cooperative agreement that had been in effect since 1996. <br> <br> Midway Phoenix has said it lost at least $15 million while operating the atoll. <br> <br> ``Although we are not in a position at this time to reopen our doors to visitors, we hope to be able to do so in the future,&#39;&#39; said Craig Manson, assistant secretary of interior for fish and wildlife and parks. <br> <br> ``We are working with the U.S. Navy and will host an event on Midway to honor the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Midway in early June, but the terms of this short-term contract are fairly basic,&#39;&#39; Manson said. <br> <br> ``The next six months will allow us to inventory and evaluate the infrastructure to clarify our future options,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> Beginning May 1, GeoEngineers will provide operations staff, inventory functional equipment and facilities, and determine operational costs of the island infrastructure, the department said. The airfield will be open for Fish and Wildlife Service charter flights and for emergency use by the military, U.S. Coast Guard and private aircraft, it said.

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