Photo: Royal Terns, Chelsea Weithman
On February 14, Governor Ralph Northam announced plans to mitigate harm to 25,000 shorebirds whose nesting area has been destroyed to accommodate the expansion of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (HRBT). The Governor’s announcement came following weeks of pressure by individuals and organizations from around the country, including ASNV, the National Audubon Society and the American Bird Conservancy. A big THANK YOU to all our members and friends who wrote and emailed the Governor and the Secretary of the Interior asking them to do something to protect the birds. Your voices made a difference!
Royal Terns and Sandwich Terns that nest almost nowhere else in Virginia, as well as Black Skimmers and several species of gulls, have nested on South Island for 40 years. South Island was paved over in preparation for the expansion of the HRBT, and the birds will not be able to nest there this spring. The state’s mitigation plans include creating alternate nesting area on Rip Raps Island, a nearby artificial island, in time for the 2020 breeding season; and investigation of procuring barges that could provide additional nesting area. The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) will also accelerate its work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to assess the feasibility of creating an artificial island to provide a long-term habitat for the birds and will restore a portion of the nesting area on South Island after construction is complete in 2025.
While the Governor’s announcement is welcome news, the solution is not perfect. It is not certain that the birds will accept Rip Raps Island as a nesting area, and much work needs to be done on the island in the next few weeks to make it more attractive to the birds. Procuring barges as temporary nesting sites is both extremely expensive and unlikely to occur in time for this year’s nesting season. As a result, it is likely that the populations of these birds will decline despite the Governor’s actions. It also is not clear how the project will be funded or which state agencies will take responsibility for the project. ASNV has submitted a letter to the Corps of Engineers asking them to reopen the record of the Environmental Impact Statement to take into consideration new developments concerning the impact of construction on birds before issuing a permit for the construction. We’ll keep you posted on future developments and will alert you if more action is needed.
Governor Northam also announced plans to establish a permitting program for actions likely to impact bird populations. This new program was made necessary by the Trump Administration’s rollback of protections for birds under the century-old Migratory Bird Treaty Act. DGIF intends to develop draft regulations by the spring of 2020 that will provide birds in Virginia similar or the same protections that were previously provided by the MBTA. Virginia is the second state in the nation, after California, that is taking steps to put in place protections for birds that previously had been provided nationally under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. ASNV will review and comment on the draft regulations.