News Release
| Release Number: | 07-127 |
| Dated: | 10/9/2007 |
| Contact: | Amy Echols, 503-808-4510 |
PORTLAND, Ore. – A program to redistribute the world’s largest breeding colony of Caspian terns and reduce their consumption of juvenile salmon is moving forward, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced today.
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.
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 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.
“The nesting habitat we create or enhance along the terns’ natural migratory paths will provide for a more natural, dispersed population than the concentrated population on East Sand Island,” said Col. Thomas O’Donovan, Portland District Engineer. “The expanded range of nesting grounds also will provide a diet of fewer Columbia River salmon and support our continued efforts to restore ESA-listed fish in the basin.”
The redistribution project includes environmental documentation and detailed work plans for the development of Caspian tern nesting sites at six locations over the next five years. Three sites are in Oregon and three are located in San Francisco Bay. The Corps anticipates construction of the first site at Fern Ridge Lake in Oregon to begin in late 2007 with completion in early 2008.
The program also includes research and monitoring of double-crested cormorants to gather information for an environmental impact statement to determine if management of this bird species is warranted. Cormorant consumption of juvenile salmon in the Columbia River estuary is comparable to and sometimes greater than that of Caspian terns.
This week, the Corps issued a draft Environmental Assessment that addresses the environmental impacts associated with the Fern Ridge Lake phase of the plan. It provides information to supplement and update previous National Environmental Policy Act documents. This draft assessment is now available for public review and comment through Nov. 5. 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.