Dan,

I'm overcommitted and overwhelmed right about now with too many matters, so I'm not going to be the activist on this particular issue. I was hoping that others who have more time and energy could take this further if they wanted to. I have already had queries about using my post as an introduction to the problem, and I assured several people that it was all right. Wayne's post is similarly useful.

Dennis


On Feb 2, 2011, at 12:52 PM, notcalm at comcast.net wrote:

> Dennis and Wayne,
>
> I discussed this matter with a business person in Bellingham in December. He and several others have an environmental awareness. He predicted that the port would do anything possible to prevent the colony from returning and that they had other plans for the land.
>
> I would recommend that Dennis contact the Seattle Times, soon, and work with a reporter to get the story out in the open. This could result in a flurry of activity and responses. I would also consider contacting someone at Huxley school of the Environment, a cluster college at Western Washington University in Bellingham and asking how they can help.
>
> Dan Reiff
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Wayne Weber" <contopus at telus.net>
> To: "TWEETERS" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>, "WHATCOM BIRDERS" <whatcombirds at lists.wwu.edu>
> Cc: "DENNIS PAULSON" <dennispaulson at comcast.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 2, 2011 10:16:27 AM
> Subject: RE: [Tweeters] Caspian Tern constant target of persecution
>
> Tweeters (and Whatcom Birders)
>
> Dennis, you took the words right out of my mouth. I was about to post a
> message to TWEETERS on the same subject, but you summarized the situation at
> least as eloquently as I could have. The war on Caspian Terns in Washington,
> and especially in Puget Sound, needs to stop. They may not be endangered
> (yet), but this is a protected species which deserves to be protected, not
> attacked and harassed.
>
> Part of the problem with Caspian Terns-- as well as the fact that they eat
> juvenile salmon-- is that it is the nature of this species to frequently
> change its nesting sites. It is difficult to protect a nesting colony (even
> if one wants to) when the site of the colony moves every few years. There
> used to be a few Caspian colonies in Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay years ago,
> but these were on low islands that were subject to overwash in storms, and
> were subsequently abandoned. I don't believe Caspians ever nested in Puget
> Sound until the late 1980s, when they started to nest on a vacant site at
> the Everett Navy Base.
> They were chased out of there when the Navy wanted to develop the land, then
> later tried nesting on an admittedly unsuitable site on a barge in
> Commencement Bay. Birds were actually killed in the successful effort to
> dislodge that colony.
>
> For a few years, Caspians nested on Dungeness Spit-- once again, an
> unsuitable site in the long term because it is not an island and is
> accessible to predators. This time the birds shifted on their own, settling
> in Bellingham.
>
> Caspian Terns in Puget Sound are regarded by many as interlopers, recent
> invaders, and even pests, and it's easy to understand this attitude when a
> colony of 2000 or 3000 birds suddenly appears where there were none a couple
> of years ago. However, the establishment of new colonies like the one in
> Bellingham is tied to the disappearance of other colonies, and someone needs
> to look at this in the context of the species' total West Coast or North
> American population.
>
> I have not heard the accusation of depleting salmon stocks made in
> Bellingham, although I don't know if anyone has attempted to study their
> food there. However, it should be kept in mind that even heavy depredations
> on juvenile salmon may have little if any effect on the numbers of returning
> adults, which seem to be determined mostly by things that happen during the
> 3-4 years that the fish are in the ocean. Saving salmon has been the excuse
> for harassing Caspians at the mouth of the Columbia River, where there is a
> huge colony, but in my view as a biologist, the justification is
> questionable. This is a different situation from California Sea Lions, which
> are eating adult salmon on their return to spawning rivers, and are more
> likely to affect the production of salmon.
>
> The management of Caspian Terns in Washington needs to be addressed by a
> statewide management plan, drawn up and administered by WDFW in cooperation
> with USFWS. This plan needs to provide for maintaining a certain population
> and trying to minimize the constant harassment. Admittedly, some colony
> sites are much more of a problem (for the birds themselves and for people)
> than others. However, terns can be encouraged to nest in "desirable" sites
> by placing dummy terns on a suitable island and playing recordings of tern
> calls, and this has been done successfully elsewhere.
>
> In the meantime, the colony in Bellingham should be protected until a
> long-term plan can be drawn up and implemented. They are nesting in an
> unused industrial site, and unless proved otherwise, seem to be causing
> little harm to salmon there. The Port of Bellingham should be approached by
> wildlife agencies and by Audubon officials with the objective of obtaining
> voluntary cooperation to protect the nesting site for the next few years. If
> not, they should be threatened with legal action if they harass the birds
> (which would be illegal without a permit). The birds are likely to move on
> their own within a few years, and if not and the site is really needed for
> development, they can be encouraged to nest somewhere else not far away.
>
> A resolution by the Washington chapter of The Wildlife Society (of which I
> am a member) might be one way to encourage some positive action on Caspian
> Terns, and I hope the Washington Audubon Council will take up this issue as
> well.
>
> Wayne C. Weber, Ph.D.
> Delta, BC
> contopus at telus.net
> (Wildlife biologist and tern advocate)
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
> [mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Dennis
> Paulson
> Sent: February-02-11 8:49 AM
> To: TWEETERS tweeters
> Subject: [Tweeters] Caspian Tern constant target of persecution
>
> Hello, tweeters.
>
> The situation in Bellingham with the Caspian Tern colony breaks my heart
> too. This species, just because it happens to be a fish-eater and nests in
> large colonies, has been driven from pillar to post in Washington state (and
> I presume elsewhere). Because there seems to be a prevalent attitude of
> "salmon ?ber alles" in our state, anything that eats salmonids is an
> unwanted pest, and they are persecuted beyond belief. Fish-eating birds in
> large numbers are killed along the Columbia River by personnel of Wildlife
> Services, the federal government "wildlife damage management" department. As
> was pointed out, sea lions are also on the receiving end of this
> persecution, but they have a lot of supporters who have tried to point out
> that they need protection as much as the fish do. Caspian Terns need the
> same support.
>
> Some salmonid populations are endangered, so this gives the authorities
> rationale to go after the terns (and other fish-eaters) as their predators.
> But to some of us who have been watching this situation develop, it really
> seems as if much of the "damage" that is being done by Caspian Terns is
> predation on hatchery-raised fish, obviously not covered under the
> Endangered Species Act. The terns, of course, have to fish to live and to
> feed their young, and they aren't aware of the powerful forces aligned
> against them.
>
> There are obviously several groups that profit from or enjoy salmon fishing,
> particularly sports and commercial fishermen and Native tribes, and they
> comprise an influential lobby working to keep salmonid numbers up. As wild
> salmonid populations have declined in a much modified world, one of the ways
> to keep those numbers up is to rear them in hatcheries and release them by
> the millions. The terns are being persecuted primarily because they eat
> those hatchery fish (which aren't as good at avoiding predation as wild fish
> are), and wherever there are hatcheries (there are many), there is strong
> pressure to keep terns away from the area.
>
> That is what happened in Grays Harbor, it happened in Everett, it happened
> in Tacoma, it happened on the Lower Columbia River, and now it is happening
> in Bellingham. I strongly suspect there is more than meets the eye here,
> that it is not just the Port doing an environmental cleanup. I could be
> wrong, but the attack on the terns in Bellingham follows a pattern that
> began in Washington several decades ago.
>
> I think it's time a strong protest is mounted against these activites.
> Caspian Terns are federally protected wildlife and deserve just as much care
> as salmonids, but they are not getting it. Instead there is a well-organized
> campaign against them.
>
> Dennis
> -----
> Dennis Paulson
> 1724 NE 98 St.
> Seattle, WA 98115
> 206-528-1382
> dennispaulson at comcast.net
>
>
>
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>
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-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net



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