[bcnnet] Great News on Caspian Terns

[Donald R Dann]

BCNnet folks - Just received this from the American Bird Conservancy.

Donald

Donald R. Dann
Highland Park/Lake County
donniebird@yahoo.com

         
>-----Original Message-----
>From:	Gerald Winegrad [mailto:gwwabc@erols.com]
>Sent:	Thursday, August 09, 2001 4:28 PM
>To:	Donald Dann
>Subject:	Big Victory for Caspian Terns!
>
>On Wednesday afternoon, August 8, Federal Judge Rothstein  issued an
>18-page order in Seattle that was a complete and total victory for us 
in
>the Caspian Tern litigation.  The Order requires the Army Corps of
>Engineers to complete a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement
>(EIS) before any more government funds or efforts are spent on hazing 
or
>destroying Caspian Tern or Cormorant habitat in the Columbia River. In
>her order, Judge Rothstein also found that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
>Service erred in granting a permit under the MBTA for taking (killing)
>birds without an EIS.  American Bird Conservancy, Seattle Audubon,
>Defenders of Wildlife, and National Audubon Society sued in May 2000 
to
>require the COE and FWS to complete a comprehensive EIS before
>continuing to extirpate Terns from breeding islands in the Columbia
>River estuary on the OR/WA border.  The Federal Judge ruled initially 
in
>2000 in conservationists favor but the Corps and other agencies still
>refused to conduct the scientific assessment required under NEPA in an

EIS
>and proceeded with their Tern policies.
>We won on every claim and on every ground we asserted.  There were 
over
>2000 pages of certified administrative record in the case.  Our motion
>to strike 4 extra-record declarations was granted. Defendants' motion 
to
>dismiss for mootness was denied.  The COE has to do an EIS because of
>the uncertainty of the effects of the action, the cumulative effects,
>and the "public controversy."  Furthermore, the EA the Corps has
>contrived  was ruled insufficient (as ABC noted in its comments on the
>EA) and FWS should have done an EIS on the MBTA permit too.  A 
footnote
>explains that the reasoning applies to cormorants as well as to terns,

a
>real surprise as our suit was centered on Caspian Terns. Our motion 
for
>permanent injunction was granted.  The operative language is 
"Defendants
>are ORDERED to refrain from further action regarding Caspian tern and
>cormorant habitat in the Columbia River estuary and to refrain from
>harassing the Caspian terns and cormorants until defendants prepare an
>EIS."  Finally, Judge Rothstein  ruled that  we are entitled to 
recover
>our costs and our pro bono lawyer, Richard Smith of Seattle, will be
>able to gain legal fees for representing us so well under the EAJA.  
ABC
>had paid 1/3 of direct costs (transcripts, copying, mailing, faxes, 
but zero
>for lawyer's fees).  Now we will get our costs returned (under a 
$1,000).
>We and other groups such as the Pacific Seabird group, National 
Audubon,
>Seattle Audubon, and Defenders of Wildlife had repeatedly commented
>formally and in meetings over the last 3 years with federal and state
>officials that such an EIS was required.  These pleas were ignored and
>we sued.  We still contend there is no sound science to link Terns to
>salmon declines or to impeding salmon recovery of listed species.  We
>continue to emphasize the need to concentrate on the FOUR H'S  that 
have
>led to salmon declines and impede recovery: Hydro, Habitat, 
Hatcheries, and
>Harvest.
>Despite the presence of the largest Caspian Tern colony in the world,
>many of them extirpated by natural and human induced changes to other
>habitat, Chinook salmon returns to the Columbia have been the highest 
in
>over 20 years.  The entire Rice Island Tern colony has been displaced 
to
>East Sand Island due to habitat destruction and hazing. Birds were 
also shot
>in the name of research.
>The Tern colony hosts 30% of the total North American population of 
Caspian
>Terns and 75% of the west coast population.  The Court's decision is a
>victory for sound science as an EIS will examine the impact on the 
Terns of
>moving these birds around as well as whether the Terns are having any 
real
>impact on adult salmon returns.
>Another Tern breeding site at the abandoned ASARCO superfund site was
>destroyed in 2001 as part of its clean-up.  The Corps, NMFS, and state
>fishery agencies have not re-established or created habitat outside 
the
>estuary which is required under their own plan, except temporaily on a
>barge. With the surprising aproval of the FWS, this successful
>experiment to establish a Tern colony on a sand covered barge in
>Commencement Bay was abruptly halted when Washington Fish and Game
>destroyed the colony by taking all 933 eggs under a general FWS
>scientific collecting permit.  The study was to determine if Terns 
would
>breed and fledge young on the barge and to ascertain their diet.  This

year,
>Caspian Tern numbers peaked at 16,000 adults on East Sand Island.  The

Terns
>diet was 22% less salmonids than last year.
>This case is important not only for the Caspian Tern and Cormorant
>Pacific NW population, but for piscivorous birds all over the U.S. 
These
>birds are being blamed for fishery declines and efforts are
>underway, legal and illegal, to control populations. A nationwide EIS 
is
>nearing completion on Double-crested Cormrant management and there is 
heavy
>pressure on the FWS to permit populationm control of these species.  
We now
>must watch for Congressional riders designed to over tern the Judge's
>ruling.  A conference call among plaintiffs will be held next week to
>discuss further actions under the ruling.
>A joint press release is being coordinated with Defenders and ABC and 
all
>the Plaintiffs.
>This is the first and only litigation ABC has pursued.  I am convinced

that
>if we had not sued, the COE under pressure from NMFS and state 
fisheries
>agencies, would have already or would be planning to haze and destroy
>habitat to move most of the Terns out of the Columbia.
>Thanks to all who supported our efforts. Stay tuned for more of AS THE

WORLD
>TERNS.
>
>
>
>
>
>_________________________________________________________

>
>


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