April 2003

Contact: Craig Bartlett
WDFW Public Affairs Program
(360) 902-2259

Photo/Dan Roby, Columbia Bird Research

Public Meetings

April 28, 2003 - Aberdeen 5:30-8:30 p.m. Gray's Harbor Community College 1620 Edward P. Smith Dr.

April 29, 2003 - Olympia 5:30-8:30 p.m. Washington State Captial Museum 211 W. 21st Avenue

Three federal agencies will hold a series of public meetings in April and May of 2003 as an initial step toward developing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for managing Caspian terns in the Columbia River estuary. Scheduled for completion in January 2005, the EIS will address a number of key management issues, including concerns about tern predation on young salmonids and the question of whether some members of the large colony near the mouth of the Columbia River should be relocated to other potential nesting sites in Washington, Oregon and California.

Federal agencies involved in developing the EIS include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), NOAA-Fisheries and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will be asked to comment during various stages of the process, but the federal agencies have the mandate to develop the EIS.

The Columbia River colony
The Columbia River estuary currently provides nesting grounds for approximately 70% of the entire Pacific Coast population of Caspian terns, gull-like birds that feed on fish. Most of the 9,900 nesting pairs in the estuary are now congregated on East Sand Island, formed by dredge spoils near the river mouth.

Prior to the mid-1980s, Caspian terns nested throughout the West Coast in small to medium-sized colonies of up to 3,600 pairs. In 1986, approximately 2,000 terns established a colony on Rice Island in the Columbia River estuary, growing to 8,850 nesting pairs by 1999. Studies conducted by Oregon State University indicate terns on Rice Island consumed more than 11 million salmon smolts that year.

In 1999, concerned about tern predation on salmon listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and partner agencies successfully relocated most birds in the Rice Island colony to East Sand Island, approximately 15 miles downriver near the mouth of the Columbia. This was done by reducing tern habitat on Rice Island and attracting them to East Sand Island using decoys and recorded calls.

As predicted, salmon predation by Caspian terns on East Sand Island was significantly lower than on Rice Island because of the greater variety of marine fishes there. Research funded by the Bonneville Power Administration from 1997-2002 found that salmon comprised an estimated 31% to 46% of the terns' diet on East Sand Island compared to 73% to 77% on Rice Island. As a result, the colony's smolt consumption declined to an estimated 6.5 million fish in 2002, a reduction of approximately 40%.

Legal settlement and EIS
In 2000, four environmental groups sued the USFWS and the Corps of Engineers for their actions in moving the tern colony from Rice Island to East Sand Island. The plaintiffs included the National Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Seattle Audubon Society and the American Bird Conservancy, who contended that the Corps had not adequately complied with the National Environmental Policy Act and that USFWS permitted tern eggs to be taken to prevent nesting on Rice Island.

In 2002, all parties reached a Settlement Agreement requiring USFWS, NOAA-Fisheries and the Corps to prepare an EIS on Caspian tern management in the Columbia River estuary. In addition, the Settlement Agreement requires federal agencies to conduct three scientific studies regarding:

• The status of Caspian terns in North America;

• Tern predation on salmon smolts in the Columbia River; and

• Potential relocation sites for Columbia River terns.

Those reports have been completed and are available on USFWS' website at http://migratorybirds.pacific.fws.gov/CATE.htm

Potential tern relocation sites
In 2002, after evaluating 77 locations in the Northwest states, California and Nevada, USFWS identified 24 potential tern relocation sites for some of the terns now nesting in the Columbia River estuary. Of those potential sites, seven are in Washington, four are in Oregon and 13 are in California. Criteria used to select these potential nesting sites include such considerations as historic nesting patterns, appropriate habitat and available food.

Of the sites in Washington, five are in Grays Harbor, one is in Padilla Bay and one is in Puget Sound near Everett. These site recommendations are preliminary in nature; USFWS plans to conduct further analysis and consider public comments before taking steps to relocate terns to any of the sites identified in its report.

WDFW's role
While WDFW was not party to the lawsuit or the Settlement Agreement, the department will consult with federal resource agencies and provide comments through the EIS process on any plan to relocate Caspian terns outside the Columbia River estuary. Key considerations include:

• Salmon predation: WDFW supports the goal of reducing tern predation on listed salmon stocks in the Columbia River. At the same time, the department has concerns about any relocation plan that would put additional pressure on depressed salmon runs elsewhere in the state.

• Tern viability: Like salmon, Caspian terns are protected by federal law. While Northwest tern populations appear to be healthy - and growing - WDFW cannot endorse any plan that would jeopardize the long-term survival of the species.

• Public concerns: WDFW recognizes that citizens may have concerns about plans to relocate Caspian terns to areas where they live and work. WDFW strongly believes that the public should be fully informed of any plan to relocate Caspian terns to their area and have ample opportunity to discuss it with resource managers. The federal EIS process provides an important forum for the public to provide input on this issue.

• Interstate participation: WDFW Director Jeff Koenings has made it clear to USFWS that other coastal states must do their share under any plan to relocate Caspian terns from the Columbia River estuary. They, like Washington, have had tern colonies in the past and must be partners in relocating any birds moved from the Columbia.

• Scientific monitoring: Federal agencies must take responsibility for monitoring any relocated terns to determine the number of terns in a given area and what they are eating. Federal mitigation should be considered when tern relocation has a significant impact on depressed fish stocks.

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