Normally home to about 10 scientists, tiny (37-acre) Tern Island ? part of French Frigate Shoals in the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge ? was a beehive of activity during the spring of 2004 as the Service initiated reconstruction of the island's severely corroded World War II era steel sheet pile bulkhead. This long-awaited project was designed to stabilize the island, preventing the entrapment of wildlife and loss of the island's runway and infrastructure.

Located about 500 miles northwest of Honolulu, Tern Island is used by the Service and NOAA-Fisheries as the principal wildlife monitoring station in the Hawaiian Islands NWR. The island provides important terrestrial habitat for an estimated 80-90,000 pairs of nesting seabirds and is included in federally-designated critical habitat for the endangered Hawaiian monk seal. More than 90 percent of the population of threatened Hawaiian green sea turtles nests at French Frigate Shoals.

From April to June, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) managed the Tern Island reconstruction activities conducted by a civilian marine construction contractor. Because the funding available was not sufficient to complete the entire project, the Service and the Corps selected the most damaged portions of the bulkhead for reconstruction. Of the 4,674 feet of bulkhead requiring replacement, 1,200 feet (26%) was permanently replaced with the designed sloping rock revetment. An additional 322 feet (7%) of original bulkhead was temporarily protected with a combination of randomly placed rock revetment material and new steel sheetpiles. The temporary measures are expected to last several years, helping to protect Tern Island until additional funding is secured to complete the reconstruction of the remaining corroded bulkhead.

The project also included replacement of the existing small boat dock and boat hoist and the construction of a small boat ramp. These new boat facilities provide the Service staff and scientific research cooperators with a safe and efficient means of working within the Refuge.