The Cape Cod Connection

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Northeast Region
News Release

March 2, 1998
For further information, contact Bud Oliveira 978/443 4661 or Diana Weaver 413/253 8329

Plan Approved for Work on Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan to manage activities at the north end of South Monomoy Island during the bird nesting season received approval last week, according to Bud Oliveira, refuge manager for Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge complex, which oversees Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge off Cape Cod in Massachusetts. The plan details procedures to manage competitors and predators of nesting terns and piping plovers on a portion of the refuge.

Both Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and the Service's Director Jamie appaport Clark, after extensive review, have now approved the plan, which has been in preparation for nearly three months. Babbitt made a commitment last year to personally review this plan. Staff from the offices of Senators Kennedy and Kerry and Congressman Delahunt received the plan and discussed it with Service staff last week, Oliveira said.

"We are pleased to have a plan in place for the coming years," said Oliveira. "We know that there will always be some disagreement over this issue. There is also considerable support. I am convinced that we are following the best course of action considering our requirements to manage the refuge for migratory birds and to protect endangered and threatened species."

Key elements of the three-year plan include:

• Monomoy refuge staff will begin field work April 1 on South Monomoy Island. On the northern 75 acres of the island, they will harass gulls to encourage them to nest elsewhere, and they will set up signs closing beaches where piping plovers nest.
• At the beginning of May, more than two weeks earlier than last year, refuge staff will set up a resident field camp that they will occupy until late summer. They will intensify harassment activities. In mid-May, they will count gulls on the refuge.
• Throughout the project, non-lethal methods will be emphasized to maintain the area free of gulls. During the bird nesting season, refuge staff will kill gulls only after considerable efforts to encourage them to leave the area. A permit allows the Service to kill a maximum of 75 gulls.
• Refuge staff will handle predators individually. For instance, if a peregrine falcon, an endangered species, was observed preying on a tern, refuge staff would take no action.

Besides management activities detailed in the plan, the Service has contracted with two outside groups:

Noted seabird scientist Stephen Kress, Ph.D., of the Seabird Restoration Program, National Audubon Society, is overseeing development of a long-term management plan for restoring roseate, Arctic and common terns throughout the region from the northern Gulf of Maine south to Long Island Sound and including Monomoy refuge. This plan will examine tern population trends and develop management goals and methods for restoration activities. Audubon staff will write the plan for the Service in consultation with the Service, the Northeast Roseate Tern Recovery Team, National Park Service, state and provincial wildlife agencies, and conservation organizations.

The U.S. Geological Survey's Biological Resources Division, in Patuxent, Md., is designing a research study to begin this year examining how gulls may or may not influence piping plover nest site selection on South Monomoy Island. The Service will use results of the study to adapt project management.

"We have done everything we can do, both scientifically and within the parameters of our legislative mandates, to accommodate the concerns of our critics," Oliveira said. "We will continue working with the community, listening to concerns and suggestions and sharing information about the project as it becomes available."

A brief history:

The plan approved last week is part of a project that began in 1996. The Service is required to manage national wildlife refuges for species diversity and to work toward recovery of protected species. Gulls on Monomoy refuge are numerous and compete for nesting space with smaller, less numerous species. Service staff used the gull toxicant DRC-1339 to kill a number of gulls to secure nesting habitat on a portion of the refuge for a variety of migratory birds, especially piping plovers and roseate terns, both protected by the Endangered Species Act. The Service revised the project following significant public opposition to the Service's use of DRC-1339.

In 1997, the Service held a total of six public meetings to share information and develop a plan for future management of the project area. The Service promised not to use DRC-1339 on the refuge for the foreseeable future; cut the size of the project area approximately in half; and established a resident field camp to monitor the project. The Service's draft plan for managing the nesting season on Monomoy refuge was available for public comment at the end of December through mid-January. The completed plan was prepared and sent to Director Clark in early February.

Plan availability:

Copies of the completed plan, titled "Nesting Season Operating Procedures, Monitoring Protocols, and Competitor/Predator Management on Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge,1998-2000" and the "Administrative Record of Public Comments on the Management Plan" have been mailed to those who participated in the December public forum. Additional copies will be available after March 5 to those who contact the refuge office at 508-945-0594, or write Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, Wikis Way, Chatham, MA 02633.

The Refuge | History | Wildlife | Recreation | Regulations | The Birds | Fish & Wildlife Service

Back to the Cape Cod Connection!

http://www.capecodconnection.com/monomoy/usfws030298.htm Last Updated: 03/09/1998 2:02:45 PM Copyright © 1996 mikron Computer Consultants
Address comments to Webmaster: MR. V., Published and maintained by mikron Computer Consultants 3 Russell Drive, Harwich, MA 02645 (508) 432-4693