An EIS is prepared when a federal agency is proposing an action that, after completing an initial review, may significantly affect the environment. We recognize that there would be significant impacts on the environment if this project were to move forward with an eradication effort, which indicates the need for an Environmental Impact Statement. Learn more about the EIS process. 

There will be two formal opportunities for the public to provide comments about the potential eradication of rats on four uninhabited islands. We will also host public meetings to engage with interested parties. 

Comments will be accepted for this phase before the draft EIS between September 23, 2024, until November 7, 2024. There are multiple ways that the public can provide input during the EIS process. All comments submitted are made part of the public record.

• At the public scoping meeting held on Wednesday, October 9, 2024, from 6-8 pm at the BP Energy Center in Anchorage, Alaska. The address is 1014 Energy Court, Anchorage, Alaska 99508. Written comments can be collected, as well as comments can be provided to the court reporter. If you wish to participate virtually, contact rateradication_AKMNWR@fws.gov for an invite.
   
• Online at www.regulations.gov Search for and submit comments on Docket No. FWS-R7-NWRS-2024-0032
   
• Mail comments to:
  Public Comments Processing
  Attn: Docket No. FWS-R7-NWRS-2024-0032
  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3w
  5275 Leesburg Pike
  Falls Church, VA 22041-3803

The Service is seeking substantive comments that will help us improve the EIS by:

• Providing new information related to the proposed action or alternatives being considered

• A different method to meet the need

• Identifying a specific flaw in the analysis

• Suggesting alternative methodologies and the reason(s) why they should be used

• Making factual corrections, or identifying a different source of credible research which, if used in the analysis, could result in different effects.

We define invasive species invasive species
An invasive species is any plant or animal that has spread or been introduced into a new area where they are, or could, cause harm to the environment, economy, or human, animal, or plant health. Their unwelcome presence can destroy ecosystems and cost millions of dollars.

Learn more about invasive species as living organisms that cause harm to the environment, to human health or to the economy where they are introduced.

Rats have gotten introduced to many locations where they are not native by being stowed away on ships, then disembarking by being hidden in the cargo delivery or by crawling across ropes attached to the shore. Rats can also survive shipwrecks and swim to the nearest island.  All four of the islands we are considering for rat eradication had been occupied during WWII and were regularly visited by ships with cargo. Rats were not believed to have occurred on those islands prior to WWII. Although, there is a historic record of a Japanese fishing vessel wrecking on Hawadax Islands in the late 1700s, which is believed to be the initial source of introduction on that island.

It is believed that invasive Norway Rats are present on twelve Aleutian Islands, and those populations are in the thousands if not tens of thousands. Rats have been implicated in causing more than half of extinctions on islands worldwide. Rats mature at an early age, breed frequently, have short gestation periods and produce multiple offspring. Specifically, Norway rats begin mating at 8-12 weeks, have a 18-22 day gestation period, and have between 4-12 pups per litter. Rats breed multiple times per year, and typically only live for about 1 year in the wild.

In the Aleutian Islands, they cause harm in many ways. In communities– they damage homes (chewing electrical lines and causing fires), spread disease and contaminate food sources and storage. In the natural environment, they cause significant damage to the native plants and animals that have no natural defenses to rats. For example, seabirds nest on the ground or in burrows and are vulnerable to rats eating the eggs, chicks and adults while on land. They have destroyed seabird colonies on the islands where they are found. 

They even have an impact on the intertidal zone.

This would be the no action alternative. The islands would continue to have invasive rats which would have detrimental impacts on the environment. With nothing to control the rats, they would remain on the islands.

For a successful eradication, all rats would need to be removed from the island. That is the only way to restore the native ecosystem. In the absence of these unrestricted invasive predators, the ecosystem will rebound. Hawadax Island, previously known as Rat Island in the Rat Island Group, has been declared rat-free after eradication efforts. 

When rats are eradicated, there is a positive impact on the native plants and animals on the island. For species that are breeding in low densities in the presence of rats, such as songbirds and shorebirds, populations can rebound immediately following rat eradication. This was seen on Hawadax Island where species rebounded 2-3 fold within 2 years of eradication. For other species that were extirpated from the island due to the presence of rats, the timeline for recovery might be longer. On Hawadax, three new native species of birds that would likely have occupied the island if the rats were not present, were detected within 10 years.

The Aleutian Islands support globally significant seabird populations and supply some of the finest seabird nesting habitat in the world. There were a number of factors considered for selecting the islands where these potential eradication efforts would occur, including logistical feasibility, most of or all of the island under Refuge management, biosecurity protocols and much more. These islands are also uninhabited, so eradication efforts are less complex. These four islands will benefit greatly from rat eradication. With seabirds facing environmental stressors such as climate change climate change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.

Learn more about climate change , removing this introduced predation stress is an immediate, concrete step that we hope will lead to rapid, positive effects on seabird nesting success.

We are still in the early steps of the EIS process, so the potential eradication methods, if any, are not yet determined. The Record of Decision (ROD), scheduled for winter 2026, will determine which, if any, eradication efforts are to be conducted. 

The only way to ensure success would be to eradicate all invasive rats from the island. There have been almost 700 successful rodent eradication worldwide, most occurring in the southern hemisphere. The most frequently used successful rat eradication tool is a rodenticide distributed in one or two applications to all rat territories. Many years of research and planning are invested prior to an eradication to understand when the operation might have the greatest chances of success, such as when populations are naturally declining due to a seasonal reduction in food sources. FWS is currently considering four preliminary alternatives and the no-action alternative for eradication. We will be undertaking an assessment of the environmental impacts of the alternatives prior to making any decisions.

We are still in the early steps of the EIS process, so the potential eradication methods, if any, are not yet determined. The Record of Decision (ROD), scheduled for winter 2026, will determine which, if any, eradication efforts are to be conducted. If the ROD were to indicate the use of rodenticides, the eradication operation would be timed to minimize impacts to native species, such as birds, that might also be susceptible to a rodenticide. The exact mitigation methods will be determined following the final decision in the EIS. 

Passive mitigation may be used to avoid non-targets impact, such as timing an eradication when native species have completed their seasonal migrations off the island. Or, more active mitigation could be considered for more at-risk species, such as avian scavengers that may feed on dead or dying rats. In these cases, capture and hold, supplemental feeding, or hazing on the focal or nearby islands. Depending on the eradication methods selected, it is expected that some species would have some short-term impact from rodenticide exposure, but those species would rebound quickly after the predation from rats is removed.

We are still in the early steps of the EIS process, so the potential eradication methods, if any, are not yet determined. The Record of Decision (ROD), scheduled for winter 2026, will determine which, if any, eradication efforts are to be conducted. The exact methods of eradication will be determined following the environmental analyses and public input during the EIS process. If rodenticide use is the preferred method for the Record of Decision, there is a standard for broadcasting that uses the EPA label and instructions. Rodenticides need to be broadcast in all rat habitat, which covers a wide range of habitat types from snow covered mountains, volcanoes, coastlines, riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.

Learn more about riparian zones and more. These islands are incredibly diverse and can also include derelict structures remaining from WWII such as tunnels, falling structures, etc.