Study Recommends Returning Cormorants to East Sand Island

Conservation and Animal Welfare Organizations Cautiously Support Recommendation which is Necessary Due to Historic Mismanagement of Colony by US Army Corps of Engineers

Cormorant Colony on East Sand Island Prior to destruction by US Army Corps of Engineers

Contacts:

Bob Sallinger, Bird Conservation Oregon, [email protected], 503) 380-9728

Travis Williams, Willamette Riverkeeper, [email protected], (503) 890-168

Dan Rohlf, Earthrise Law Center, [email protected], (503) 768-6707

Kelly Peterson, Humane Society of the United States, [email protected], (503) 869-0422

Bird Conservation Oregon, the Humane Society of the United States, and Willamette Riverkeeper are cautiously supporting a recommendation by a study team convened by Oregon Department of Transportation to restore the cormorant colony on East Sand Island near the mouth of the Columbia River. The action is necessary because, following lethal cormorant population reduction activities on East Sand Island in 2015-16 by the US Army Corps of Engineers, thousands of cormorants relocated to the Astoria-Megler Bridge where they are damaging bridge infrastructure and consuming more federally listed salmon than they were on East Sand Island. All three organizations participated in the ODOT process.

While supportive of the restorating the colony on East Sand Island, all three groups are also urging caution as this process moves forward. Given the documented declines in Double-crested Cormorant populations as a result of prior lethal control activities by government agents on East Sand Island, it is essential that any lethal control of either adult cormorants or active nests during the relocation process by kept to an absolute minimum and that the viability reestablishment efforts on the East Island be documented to the greatest degree possible before hazing activities are initiated on the Astoria Megler Bridge.

“This recommendation is both exciting and heartbreaking,” says Bob Sallinger, Director of Bird Conservation Oregon. “Returning cormorants to East Sand Island is the right decision, but it also shows that the wanton slaughter of cormorants on East sand Island by our federal government was entirely unnecessary and misguided. We stand ready to work with the agencies and other stakeholders to restore the colony and repair the damage that has been done.”

The Double-crested Cormorant nesting colony on East Sand Island was once the largest Double-crested Cormorant colony west of the Rocky Mountains, with more than 30,000 birds making up approximately 40% of the Double-crested Cormorant population in the Western United States. In 2015, the US Army Corps of Engineers – supported by US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service – initiated a three year program to kill approximately 11,000 cormorants on East Sand Island and eliminate much of their nesting habitat by bulldozing it into the estuary. The Corps argued that this action was necessary to protect federally listed salmon, even as they failed repeatedly to respond to multiple losses in federal court requiring them to address the primary cause of salmon decline on the Columbia, the federal hydropower system. The slaughter of cormorants on East Sand Island was overwhelmingly opposed by the public, wildlife and animal welfare groups, wildlife experts, the Corps own lead cormorant researcher on East Sand Island, and even biologists within USFWS who produced a report (which was suppressed by the agency) showing that killing cormorants would not help recover listed salmon. The taxpayer-supported slaughter proceeded during 2015 and 2016, with thousands of cormorants being shot out of the sky over the water and killed on their nests. In 2016, the entire colony collapsed with nearly 17,000 cormorants abandoning their nests in a single day, the vast majority never to return. The events of 2015/16 are documented in the short film: Scapegoat: the Cormorants of East Sand Island

Conservation and animal welfare groups strongly opposed the slaughter of cormorants on East Sand Island, arguing that it could cause complete colony collapse, put cormorant populations into serious decline, move cormorants to locations would they would potentially consume more salmon than they do on East Sand Island, and potentially cause them to relocate onto the nearby Astoria-Megler Bridge where they could cause damage to the bridge and hazards to motorists. Every single one of those predictions has sadly proven to be correct.

"The Humane Society of the United States and other groups commend the Oregon Department of Transportation for convening and facilitating a productive process which focused on real science and real solutions and arrived at a unanimous recommendation to restore the cormorant colony on East Sand Island” says Kelly Peterson, Oregon State Director for the HSUS, “This is what should have occurred in 2015. As the process moves forward to relocate cormorants from the Astoria-Megler Bridge to East Sand Island, caution must be taken to ensure that no further harm is done to cormorants.”

The Report released by ODOT recognizes that western US cormorant populations have seen significant declines since 2015 and that cormorants are now consuming more salmon than prior to the initiation of management activities in 2015. Additionally, cormorants displaced from East Sand Island are causing significant damage to the Astoria-Megler Bridge, and large numbers of the birds are being struck by vehicles on the bridge. The report recommends both hazing the cormorants off the bridge and trying to attract them back to East Sand Island. The report also notes that the Astoria-Megler Bridge now represents the largest DCCO colony in the Western United States.

“It is long past time for the Corps and other federal agencies to step up and address the impacts that the dams are having on federally listed salmon, including by removing the four federal dams on the lower Snake River,” said Dan Rohlf, an attorney at Earthrise Law Center who represented conservation and animal welfare groups opposing the slaughter of cormorants on East Sand Island in 2015-17. “Federal judges have repeatedly ruled that federal agencies have not adequately addressed federal dams’ impacts on listed salmon. It is time to stop scapegoating cormorants and address the true causes of salmon mortality.”

“We work to protect fish and wildlife populations in the Columbia River System,” says Travis Williams, Executive Director for Willamette Riverkeeper. “The actions of the Corps on East Sand Island harmed both cormorants and salmon. We look forward to working with the agencies on real solutions to protect both and address the primary cause of salmon declines – the dams.”

The ODOT Report indicates that work, including planning and permitting to move nesting cormorants from the Astoria-Megler Bridge to East Sand Island will likely begin in 2024 or 2025.