News Release
| Release Number: | 01-011 |
| Dated: | 2/8/2001 |
| Contact: | Matt Rabe, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore. -- No vacancy. That is the message the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would like to send to Caspian terns returning to Rice Island in the Lower Columbia River Estuary this spring.
District Engineer Col. Randall Butler, of the Corps’ Portland Office, signed a Finding of No Significant Impact statement Wednesday, clearing the way for the agency to participate with other federal and state agencies in the relocation efforts this spring.
The Caspian Tern Working Group has developed a tern relocation and management plan, which calls for keeping Caspian terns from nesting on Rice Island and encouraging them to nest on East Sand Island, an island closer to the Pacific Ocean. Moving the terns downriver is needed to reduce the number of juvenile salmon and steelhead the birds eat during their five-month stay in the estuary.
Members of the public and interested agencies and organizations are invited to review the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ FONSI and environmental assessment of the Corps’ part of the plan. Comments providing new information on the proposed actions and environmental impacts will be considered by the Corps prior to initiating action.
Comments on the documents, or a request for a copy, may be directed to Robert Willis, Environmental Resources Branch, Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, at (503) 808-4760, Lynne Hamilton at (503) 808-4772, or mailed to: District Engineer, Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineer District, Portland, Attn: Lynne Hamilton, CENWP-PM-E, P.O. Box 2946, Portland, Ore., 97208-2946. The documents also are available on the Internet at https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil.
Comments must be postmarked by March 9, 2001, and should reference Public Notice Number CENWP-PM-E-01-01, Caspian Tern Relocation FY 2001-2002 Management Plan and Pile Dike Modification.
The action proposed by the Corps is similar to the plan developed by the Working Group in 2000. This year, the group plans to discourage nesting on Rice Island and encourage nesting on East Sand Island. A minimum of four acres of habitat will be prepared by removing the beach grass that has grown back and maintained at the East Sand Island site. Also, sea gull control will take place at East Sand Island to protect the terns from gulls attempting to disturb tern eggs and chicks. Such protection will not take place on Rice Island.
To discourage the use of Rice Island, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will arrange for passive, and possibly active, harassment of terns. This active approach will be followed until the first Caspian tern egg is laid on the island. At that time, all active harassment will stop.
A federal court’s injunction issued April 10, 2000, prohibiting all harassment on Rice Island, remains in effect from last year when several groups filed a lawsuit to stop the Working Group’s efforts on Rice Island. If the injunction is not lifted before the terns begin returning to the area, that portion of the management plan will not be carried out.
Caspian tern breeding was first documented in the Columbia River estuary in 1984 when about 1,000 pairs were reported nesting on fresh dredged material on East Sand Island, near the mouth of the Columbia River. Prior to 1984, the species was a non-breeding, summer resident of the Columbia River estuary.
Most of the colony moved to Rice Island in 1986, probably because of vegetation development on East Sand Island, according to biologists. Since that time, the colony’s population has expanded to more than 9,500 nesting pairs.
Juvenile salmon and steelhead make up a large portion of the fish terns consume at Rice Island - about 75 percent to 91 percent, compared to a much smaller percentage at East Sand Island - about 44 percent. Biologists estimate Caspian terns consumed 6 million to 25 million salmon and steelhead in 1997, and 7.4 million to 15.2 million salmon and steelhead in 1998.
In 1999, as part of a pilot project to manage terns, the Corps of Engineers, working with federal and state wildlife agencies, attempted to relocate the majority of the colony from Rice Island to East Sand Island. A combination of efforts was used, including planting vegetation and installing fencing on Rice Island, and removing vegetation and using social attraction devices on East Sand Island. The project was partially successful, resulting in 1,400 nesting pairs of terns using East Sand Island during the 1999 breeding season.
During the 2000 nesting season, only 580 pairs of terns nested on Rice Island and about 9,100 pairs relocated to East Sand Island.
The Corps’ action is in response to a 1999 biological opinion by the National Marine Fisheries Service. A long-term management plans likely will be developed by the appropriate agencies during the next two years.
The Corps has consulted with the appropriate agencies to assure compliance with the Endangered Species Act of 1973; the Coastal Zone Management Act; the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act; the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and Cultural Resources acts.
The members of the Caspian Tern Working Group include: National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, Bonneville Power Administration, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Idaho Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Oregon State University.