Surfbirds News

All but 1-1.5 acres of the 6 acres of sandy habitat on the island would be destroyed and birds relocated, reducing tern numbers over several years from 9,500 current breeding pairs to as few as 2,500 pairs. The colony currently holds 70% of the Pacific Coast population, due mostly to the loss of suitable alternate nesting habitat (such as the deliberate destruction of habitat at neighboring Rice Island by federal agencies).

While Pacific salmon in Alaska remain in plentiful supply, salmon numbers in the Columbia River have declined precipitously in recent years. NMFS has long blamed the terns for inhibiting salmon recovery by their consumption of juvenile salmonids – a conclusion disputed by scientists. The EIS was completed in settlement of a lawsuit, filed by ABC, Defenders of Wildlife, National Audubon Society, and Seattle Audubon Society. The groups contend that the terns have only a minute impact on salmon returns and are being unfairly scapegoated, while the real causes of salmon declines – dams, habitat loss, over-harvest, and fish hatcheries – go largely uncontested.

Caspian Tern, CA, © Andrew Birch

The plan, estimated to cost $2.4 million in its first year, calls for new tern habitat to be established elsewhere in Washington, Oregon, and California. However, some of these sites are up to 800 miles from the present colony, and all would expose terns to greater threats from predators and environmental toxins, as well as increased competition from other birds. Until suitable, predator-free habitat is established elsewhere, and terns have colonized and bred successfully there, conservationists do not support moving terns off East Sand.

Long-term ownership of East Sand Island, currently in Army Corps of Engineers hands, is not addressed by the EIS. The Corps and conservationists have urged its addition to the National Wildlife Refuge system. An ABC-designated globally Important Bird Area, the island also has over 6,700 roosting endangered "California" Brown Pelicans, and a large mixed gull colony.