[tn-bird] BIRDS WIN OVER BARGES
- From: Troy.Ettel@xxxxxxxxxxx
- To: TNBIRDS <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 08:09:00 -0500
Endangered Birds Will Not Be Moved for Barges
By Cat Lazaroff
WASHINGTON, DC, July 8, 2002 (ENS) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has
ordered the Army Corps of Engineers not to move the nests of endangered birds
to allow water to be released into the Missouri River. The decision, aimed at
protecting the nests of the rare least tern and piping plover, could
potentially block barge traffic from a 250 mile stretch of the river.
The Corps sought permission to release water from behind two dams in South
Dakota, Gavins Point and Fort Randall. An ongoing drought has reduced the
river's depth to the minimum needed for barge traffic, an industry whose
interests the Corps is required to protect.
The Army Corps proposed releasing additional water from behind the Gavins Point
Dam in South Dakota to supplement Missouri River flows. (Photo courtesy U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers)
But raising the river's level would inundate the nests of piping plovers and
least terns, endangered birds that build their nests on sandbars and islands to
help protect them from predators. So the Corps proposed moving low lying nests
to higher ground.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) said moving the nests was not
permitted under the federal Endangered Species Act and the international
Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Unless the Missouri's upstream watershed gets heavy rains, the USFWS decision
could leave barge traffic high and dry, the Corps said.
"With the dry conditions throughout the Missouri River basin, we will probably
not be able to meet navigation target flows from Nebraska City to Kansas City,"
said Larry Cieslik, who heads the Corps' Missouri River basin water management
division.
Conservation groups applauded the announcement. Rebecca Wodder, president of
American Rivers, said the decision "may be the turning point in the long effort
to restore America's longest river."
"This could wind up benefiting not just fish and wildlife, but the natural
bounty that Lewis and Clark discovered almost 200 years ago, and ultimately the
entire region's economy," Wodder added, arguing that long term planning would
be better for the health of the river and those who depend on it than short
term responses like releasing extra water in times of drought.
Raising the Missouri River's level during the summer could flood the nests of
the endangered least tern. (Photo courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
The White House is considering reforms to the operation of six dams on the
Missouri River, which now favor the needs of the $6.9 million barge industry
over the more than $85 million recreation and tourism industry and the
ecological health of the river. Last month, the Bush administration postponed a
decision on the changes indefinitely.
The National Academy of Sciences has endorsed changing dam operation to restore
the river, concluding they may be "justifiable solely on the grounds that it
represents an economic improvement." But the barge industry and its largely
agricultural customers "wield great political influence and may resist changes
to traditional management policies," the Academy warned.
The Corps said today it would work with the USFWS to find a solution to the
conflict between the nesting birds and barge traffic needs. If river levels
continue to fall due to the drought, the birds may nest on even lower sand
spits, making it even more difficult to release water in the future, the Corps
said.
Already, barge companies are warning that their boats are brushing against the
river bottom, which could lead to groundings and potential fuel spills.
The Midwestern population of piping plovers needs dry sandbars and islands for
nesting. (Photo courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
The flow of the Missouri has been dramatically altered to suit the needs of
barge traffic, reducing the availability of the islands and sandbars needed by
nesting birds. The changes have also reduced the numbers of native fish,
leading one species, the pallid sturgeon, to the brink of extinction.
The National Academy of Sciences study suggested implementing a spring rise in
water flows and lower summer flows out of Gavins Point Dam, a spring rise out
of Ft. Peck Dam, habitat restoration, adaptive management of the river system
and intensive biological monitoring.
River scientists say that increased spring flows are needed to provide a
reproductive cue for sturgeon, and to build the sandbars used by nesting terns
and plovers. Lower summer flows would ensure that sandbars remain dry during
the nesting season, and provide shallow water for young fish.
Reforming dam operations to include a modest spring rise and low summer flow
would meet the needs of recreation and river wildlife without impacting the
river's traditional uses, federal studies suggest.
Troy Ettel
State Ornithologist
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
P.O. Box 40747
Nashville, TN 37204
(615) 781-6653
Troy.Ettel@xxxxxxxxxxx
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