60-day public comment period closes September 20, 2004
View the Draft EIS at http://migratorybirds.pacific.fws.gov/cate.htm
Q&A
Q&A-Dungeness
Q&A-Summer lake
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) addressing Caspian tern management in the Columbia River estuary.
The preferred alternative in the Draft EIS seeks to reduce the number of terns that nest in the estuary and eat federally protected young salmon and steelhead. This alternative proposes to decrease nesting habitat in the estuary and create and enhance tern habitat elsewhere. The Service has identified potential management locations for terns at Summer and Crump lakes near Lakeview, Oregon; Fern Ridge Reservoir near Eugene, Oregon; Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge on Washingtons Olympic Peninsula; and three sites in Californias San Francisco Bay. All of the sites are on public land and most already are occupied by terns.
"We believe that limiting nesting habitat in the Columbia River estuary and attracting terns to other sites would benefit terns and salmon," said Dave Allen, Regional Director of the Services Pacific Region. "By reducing the size of the estuary colony fewer young salmon would be eaten and there would be less of a chance that a large portion of the regional tern population, concentrated in this single location, could be harmed by storms, predators, human disturbance and disease."
About 70 percent of the entire western population of Caspian terns nests on East Sand in the Columbia River estuary.
The Draft EIS, prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), is part of a 2002 settlement agreement between the Service and the Corps and the National Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife, Seattle Audubon Society and the American Bird Conservancy. In the settlement agreement, the agencies agreed to maintain six acres of habitat on East Sand near the mouth of the Columbia River until 2005, complete three studies, and prepare a tern management plan and EIS for implementation in 2005.
The Caspian tern is a fish-eating bird that occurs worldwide. The East Sand colony near the mouth of the Columbia River is considered the worlds largest, with about 9,000 pairs, and is the result of dredge spoils that created perfect nesting conditions amidst an abundant supply of federally protected juvenile salmon and steelhead. Caspian terns typically nest in relatively small numbers (e.g., 100-1,500 pairs) on islands along the coast and interior lakes, but in recent years about 70 percent of the terns in the Pacific region have concentrated to nest on East Sand in the Columbia River estuary.
Nesting by Caspian terns in the Columbia River estuary has grown significantly since it was first documented in 1984. Caspian terns have concentrated in the estuary because historic nesting sites have been lost elsewhere in the Pacific Coast/Western region and human-created dredge-spoil islands in the estuary offered stable nesting habitat close to abundant supplies of fish.
In 1999 and 2000, the Corps of Engineers relocated terns to East Sand from Rice 15 miles up the Columbia River. As the terns diet shifted to mostly marine fish, such as anchovies, tern predation on juvenile salmon and steelhead dropped by 66 percent. However, the number of Caspian terns on East Sand is expected to increase, as will the number of protected young salmon and steelhead consumed by the birds. Thus, NOAA Fisheries remains concerned that terns may be negatively impacting Columbia River salmon recovery.
The Services preferred alternative (Alternative C) in the Draft EIS proposes to disperse up to 60 percent to 70 percent of the tern colony (5,000 to 6,500 pairs) from East Sand by reducing the amount of nesting habitat there from 6 acres to about 1-1.5 acres and by enhancing and creating tern habitat elsewhere. The Service has identified potential management locations for terns at Summer, Crump and Fern Ridge lakes in Oregon, Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge in Washington, and three sites in Californias San Francisco Bay. All of the sites are on public land. About 2,500 to 3,125 pairs of terns would still be able to nest on East Sand Island. Comments received during the EIS scoping period helped guide the development of alternatives considered in the Draft EIS, which presents four alternatives to address the intense concentration of terns on East Sand and the birds effects on juvenile salmon and steelhead.
Biologists estimate that under the preferred alternative, luring terns to other breeding sites could temporarily affect tern nesting success and possibly the number of terns in the region, but tern numbers are expected to stabilize over time. While the stabilized number of birds would possibly be lower than the current total population, it is estimated to be well above the approximately 6,200 pairs observed in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
In recent years, terns were documented to have nested on about 60 sites scattered throughout the Pacific Coast region, including Alaska. In Washington, breeding activity was first recorded in the 1950s at small coastal colonies in Grays Harbor. The Grays Harbor area once supported the largest colonies of breeding terns in the region. In Oregon, breeding terns were historically found in shallow lakes and reservoirs of the Klamath Basin and the Great Basin. In 1940, fewer than 1,000 pairs nested throughout Oregon. However, in recent years tern numbers in Oregon have averaged about 9,000 pairs, primarily in the Columbia River estuary. In California, the breeding Caspian tern population appears to have been relatively stable in the past 30 years. Throughout this period, numbers and locations of breeding sites have fluctuated and shifted, with the number of terns ranging from about 1,000 to 2,600 pairs.
A notice of availability of the Draft EIS was published in todays Federal Register. Public comments will be accepted until September 20, 2004. A record of decision and final EIS is expected to be released in February 2005.
Written comments on the Draft EIS may be sent to Nanette Seto, Migratory Birds and Habitat Programs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 911 N.E. 11th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97232, or faxed to 503-231-2019, or sent by e-mail to cateeis@r1.fws.gov
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.
