News Release
| Release Number: | 08-086 |
| Dated: | 5/28/2008 |
| Contact: | Amy Echols, 503-808-4510 |
PORTLAND, Ore. – Plans to redistribute a portion of the world’s largest breeding colony of Caspian terns to the Summer Lake Wildlife Area in south central Oregon are moving forward, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced today.
This week, the Corps issued a draft Environmental Assessment that addresses the environmental impacts associated with the Summer Lake phase of the plan. It provides information to supplement and update previous National Environmental Policy Act documents. This draft assessment is available for public review and comment through June 12, 2008. The document and the public notice are available on the Corps’ Web site at https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/pm/e/en_plan_avian.asp.
The avian predation program aims to reduce the number of young salmon consumed by terns in the Columbia River estuary and substantially improve the survival of fish listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. This action also supports the Corps’ continued efforts to recover ESA-listed fish.
The Corps and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service previously determined that redistributing terns from the estuary’s East Sand Island to alternative nesting locations in the western region is the most biologically sound method to alleviate their predation impacts on salmon migrating to the Pacific Ocean. This redistribution is also expected to benefit the terns by reducing the potential risk of exposing a large segment of the regional tern population to catastrophic events such as predators, storms and disease. This colony comprises about 70 percent of the terns’ western region population.
“Summer Lake will provide nesting habitat along the terns’ natural migratory paths and provide for a more natural, dispersed population than the concentrated population on East Sand Island,” said Geoff Dorsey, Portland District wildlife biologist.
The redistribution project includes environmental documentation and detailed work plans for the development of Caspian tern nesting sites at six locations over approximately the next five years. Three sites are in Oregon and three are located in San Francisco Bay. The Corps completed construction of the first site at Fern Ridge Lake, Oregon in February 2008; the second site at Crump Lake was completed in March 2008. Construction at Summer Lake Wildlife Area will occur after mid-July and prior to Sept. 15 in 2008 and 2009.