Summary of Interior Least Tern Research and Monitoring Workshop

Résumé du livre

This technical note summarizes the results of a national workshop on the federally endangered interior Least Tern (ILT) (Sterna antillarum athalassos) (Figure 1) held April 15-16, 2004, in South Sioux City, Nebraska. The purpose of the workshop was to assemble an interagency group of ILT experts that could provide input to the development of a range-wide monitoring protocol to assess the status, distribution, and abundance of the species. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is responsible for managing and maintaining navigable coastal and inland waterways of the United States. Activities associated with waterways maintenance, including dredging, dike construction, dredged material disposal operations, beach nourishment, and variable dam discharge actions, often conflict with federal and interagency mandates to protect populations of the endangered Interior Least Tern. These conflicts often result in a lack of flexibility and increased costs in waterways maintenance. The specific impacts of Corps operations on ILT populations are poorly understood. Without this information, management options to mediate Corps impacts are severely limited, and efforts to meet recovery goals for the ILT are compromised.