The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that a project to restore the natural biodiversity of Rat by eradicating invasive Norway rats will not have any significant impacts on the human environment. In a Finding of No Significant Impact, released today, the Service determined that the project proposed for Rat in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge does not constitute a major federal action requiring further environmental analysis. Rat is uninhabited and located in the Aleutian Chain about 1,300 miles west of Anchorage. The Nature Conservancy and Conservation are partners in the plan to restore wildlife habitat by removing the rats.
The decision was based on an Environmental Assessment of the project released for public comment in mid-December. Thirty-seven comments were received during the Assessment review period. Public comments were overwhelmingly supportive. The project hopes to restore seabirds, native vegetation and other elements to Rat Islands ecosystem. Non-native, predatory rats, which arrived on the via shipwreck in the 1780s, have eliminated many bird species and affected other parts of the islands ecosystem.
Pending final approval of permits and pesticide regulation compliance, eradication operations will begin on the 6,861 acre in the fall of 2008. Project specifics can be found in the Environment Assessment.
The Finding of No Significant Impact and the Environmental Assessment are on-line at http://alaskamaritime.fws.gov/news.htm. Paper copies may be requested by e-mailing rat_island@fws.gov, calling (907)235-6546, or by mail to Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, 95 Sterling Hwy., Suite 1, Homer, AK 99603.
The Alaska Maritime Refuges purpose is to conserve marine birds, other migratory birds, marine mammals and the habitats on which they rely. According to Acting Refuge Manager Will Meeks, the refuge has more than 50 years of experience restoring native birds and ecosystems by removing introduced species from refuge islands. Although this will be the first whole-rat eradication in Alaska, rats have been successfully eliminated from more than 300 islands worldwide.
