The Rat Pack

For three months, Barbara Moore kayaked to work each day. She woke on an uninhabited Pacific island every day, had a five-star breakfast prepared by a professional chef, jumped in her kayak and headed to work.

If it sounds like paradise, that's probably because it is. And because of the work of Moore and several other Valley residents, it will remain a paradise forever.

Moore is one of several Valley residents who have spent time in the Palmyra Atoll -- a series of 27 islands about 1,000 miles south of Hawaii -- trying to kill an estimated 20,000 rats that are the only inhabitants of the islands, to make sure the world-renowned tropical birds and wildlife remain, keeping Palmyra the pristine atoll it is.

"It truly is paradise," said Chuck Heath, who, along with his wife, Sally, spent three months on the islands. He is heading back to Palmyra Wednesday for more work. "It's the only unpopulated, undeveloped island in the Pacific," he said.

Barbara Moore; her husband, Don; Chuck Heath and his wife, Sally; and Valley residents John Spiegel and George Taylor are among a group of volunteers working to eradicate rats for The Nature Conservancy, an environmental organization.

In the middle of nowhere

The Palmyra Atoll is a group of 27 islands, some of which are as small as a single palm tree. The islands are fewer than 700 acres combined, and they are located about 400 miles north of the equator -- essentially in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, next to nowhere.

The temperature remains between 85 and 100 degrees, and the humidity is close to 100 percent all the time. "It feels like it is just about to rain," Don Moore said. And rain it does -- the atoll gets about 175 inches of rain annually.

It is a territory of the United States, and during World War II, the U.S. Navy used it as a base.

Airstrips were plowed into the islands, and "pill boxes" were erected. In 1947, the owners of the islands, the Fullard-Leos of Hawaii, were granted the title by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Through the years, many attempts were made by groups to purchase the islands, but the Fullard-Leos refused to sell.

"There were attempts to make casinos out there, big resorts, everything," Don Moore said. "Everybody wanted to commercialize the islands, but they wouldn't let it happen."

The Fullard-Leos finally sold the islands a few years ago to The Nature Conservancy for $30 million and the stipulation that no commercial activity would take place on the islands. The Nature Conservancy is committed to keeping the atoll in its natural state.

Rats everywhere

The atoll supports some of the rarest birds in the world. There are more red-footed boobies in the Palmyra Atoll than anywhere else in the world except the Galapagos Islands. Each spring, tens of thousands of seabirds come to Palmyra to breed.

But despite the large population of birds returning every spring, fewer and fewer baby birds are being born. That's because the 27 islands are home to nearly 20,000 rats, scavengers that eat the eggs of the birds and cause havoc with the ecosystem.

"They say getting rid of the rats makes a huge difference," Barbara Moore said. "The area is a critical habitat for the birds. By getting rid of the rats, they are hoping the population of seabirds increases and remains stable."

As part of the rat eradication program, volunteers first have to cut transects through the jungle.

"We walk the jungle, swinging machetes and cutting transects," Heath said. "Every 25 meters or so we would put a poison bait station, then a trap, then a poison bait station and so on."

While the setting may be considered a paradise, the work was far from easy, Don Moore said.

"It is physically very hard work," Don Moore said. "Swinging a machete all day is hard physical work, especially for people like me who are getting up there in years. But you enjoy yourself so thoroughly, it's hard to leave."

An average day for Barbara Moore included waking up at 5 a.m., and having breakfast at 6 a.m. She would gather her gear and get in her kayak for her morning commute to Longfighter Island, the first of several islands for which she was responsible.

"I'd walk the transects and check the bait stations and traps. If we had them in the traps, we'd shoot them with a .22 handgun. Then I'd rebait the stations and keep walking. It took about two hours to go up and back, and then I'd kayak through two lagoons and do the same thing on three other islands," Barbara Moore said. "I'd do that until about 3 p.m."

On one of the first days of the project, Barbara Moore trapped 91 rats in a single day.

"That's the all-time record," Heath said.

The project has resulted in the trapping of at least 1,000 rats, and countless more have been poisoned.

"The Nature Conservancy is going to monitor the rat population for a year. The goal is to keep one or two pellets of bait in each station consistently," Barbara Moore said.

Time for fun

While the work was physically draining, the recreation on the islands is second to none. Despite only having two generators to power the entire operation, there really was something for everybody.

"I'm a junk collector, and I spent hours combing the beaches for stuff," Heath said. "I spent a lot of time going through all of the old Navy stuff, too."

The fishing was second to none, according to the group, and time was spent watching the large numbers of hermit crabs, coconut crabs, turtles, sharks, mantas and thousands of other species on the islands.

The snorkeling is world-famous as well.

"The coral gardens there are world-renowned among snorkelers," Barbara Moore said. "When I was buying snorkeling gear, I told the guy where I was going, and he instantly knew about it. He told me I'd see things there nobody else ever will."

Return to Palmyra

The Moores and the Heaths just returned, and they are already planning to go back to the islands. The Heaths leave Wednesday to continue their work, and both the Moores are planning to go back. A large number of Alaskans have worked on the project already -- including Scotty and Debby Richter of Wasilla, who built the camp -- and those who have visited yearn to return to the atoll.

"I think by nature, Alaskans look for projects like this one," Barbara Moore said.

As they leaf through photo albums of their recent time spent on the atoll, it becomes clear the members of the group have become attached to their work, and the area.

"I get homesick just looking at the photos," Barbara Moore said.