Contacts
Rachel F. Levin, USFWS, 612-713-5311
Bill Paul, USDA APHIS Wildlife Services, 218-327-3350
Lee Pfannmuller, MN DNR (Wildlife), 651-296-0783
Ron Payer, MN DNR (Fisheries), 651-297-4098
Steve Mortensen, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe,
Division of Resources Management, 218-335-7423
Four natural resources agencies are seeking public comments
on a draft environmental assessment (EA) that lays out a plan to manage double-crested
cormorants in Minnesota.
In a partnership among state, federal and tribal resource agencies,
the Interior Department’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s
Wildlife Services, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and the
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe’s Division of Resources Management have drafted
a plan to reduce damage from double-crested cormorants in Minnesota. Wildlife
Services is the lead agency for the EA; the Fish and Wildlife Service, the
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe’s
Division of Resources Management are cooperating agencies.
The draft EA proposes to implement an Integrated Wildlife Damage
Management approach to reduce damage associated with double-crested cormorants
to property, aquaculture and natural resources, and cormorant-related risks
to public health and safety in Minnesota where a need exists, a request is
received, and landowners grant permission.
The EA considers five alternatives, including the proposed
integrated management approach and a “No Action” alternative,
which is required under the National Environmental Policy Act. The other
alternatives being considered include a non-lethal control approach and one
alternative that limits federal government involvement to providing technical
assistance only.
Under the proposed alternative, when appropriate, physical
exclusion, habitat modification or harassment would be used to reduce double-crested
cormorant damage. In other situations, cormorants might be removed by shooting,
egg oiling or destruction, nest destruction, or euthanasia following live
capture.
In determining the damage management strategy under the proposed
alternative in the draft EA, preference would be given to practical and effective
non-lethal methods. However, non-lethal methods may not always be applied
as a first response to each damage problem. The most appropriate response
could be a combination of non-lethal and lethal methods, or there could be
instances where the application of lethal methods alone would be the most
appropriate strategy.
The expanding number of double-crested cormorants in Minnesota
reached the point of concern in the past few years, when the colony on Leech
Lake expanded from 73 nesting pairs in 1998 to 2,524 nesting pairs in 2004.
Biologists from the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and the Minnesota Department
of Natural Resources believe that cormorants may be negatively affecting
the lake’s colony of common terns, a threatened species in Minnesota,
as well as the lake’s walleye and yellow perch populations.
Because the cormorant colony on Leech Lake is located on a
tribally owned island, the Leech Lake Band has taken the lead in using methods
to reduce the number of cormorants that nest on the island. Under this plan,
additional methods will be available to reduce cormorant numbers in addition
to the nesting material reductions that have already been completed. Under
the proposed alternative in the draft EA, and under several other alternatives
being considered, a special effort would be made at Leech Lake to reduce
the double-crested cormorant population by 80 percent.
The draft EA covers damage management measures statewide, as
cormorants may cause losses at aquaculture facilities, damage private property
or public resources throughout the state, and pose risks to human health
and safety. A 2004 Minnesota Department of Natural Resources study of colonial
waterbirds estimates a statewide population of about 16,000 nesting pairs
of double-crested cormorants. The current population in North America is
estimated at two million birds, nearly 70 percent of which are in the interior
population, which includes Minnesota.
In 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued regulations
allowing more flexibility in the management of double-crested cormorants
where they are causing damage to aquaculture stock and public resources such
as fisheries, vegetation and other birds.
The regulations established a Public Resource Depredation Order
allowing state wildlife agencies, tribes and Wildlife Services in 24 states,
including Minnesota, to conduct cormorant damage management for the protection
of public resources. Without this depredation order, agencies and individuals
would not be able to use lethal methods to manage cormorant damage without
a federal permit.
Agencies acting under the order must have landowner permission,
may not adversely affect other migratory bird species, threatened or endangered
species, and must satisfy annual reporting and evaluation requirements. The
Service will ensure the long-term sustainability of cormorant populations
through oversight of agency activities and regular population monitoring.
Double-crested cormorants are large, fish-eating birds that
nest in colonies and roost together in large numbers. A reduction in eggshell-thinning
pesticides (primarily DDT), increased protection under the Migratory Bird
Treaty Act, and abundant food resources on their wintering grounds has caused
cormorant numbers and distribution to increase greatly in the last 30 years.
Conflicts with human and natural resources, including real
or perceived impacts on commercial aquaculture, private property, recreational
fisheries, vegetation and other colonial waterbirds that nest with cormorants,
and risks to human health and safety, led to a decision by the cooperating
agencies in Minnesota to develop a management strategy for the species.
Copies of the draft EA on double-crested cormorant management
may be downloaded from the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Web site at http://midwest.fws.gov/NEPA.
Hard copies may be obtained by contacting Bill Paul, Wildlife Services, 34912
U.S. Hwy 2, Grand Rapids, MN 55744; phone 218-327-3350.
Written comments on the EA will be accepted through April 18,
2005. Written comments should be submitted to Bill Paul at the above address,
or they may be faxed to 218-326-7039. When faxing a comment, a copy should
also be mailed to ensure that a complete version of the text is received.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal
agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife
and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American
people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge
System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small
wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national
fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services
field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the
Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally
significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands,
and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation
efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes
hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment
to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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