Eider Nest Searches At The CD-3 Pad, Ice Road, And Spill-Response Sites On The Colville River Delta, 2010

The breeding range of the Spectacled Eider (Somateria fischeri) includes the Colville River delta where it is a common nester. Spectacled Eiders and Steller’s Eiders (Polysticta stelleri) are listed as threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Although within the historic range of Steller’s Eiders, the Colville River delta is no longer part of its breeding range, which has retracted westward to the Barrow area. ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. (CPAI) operates the Alpine Satellite Development Project (Alpine Oilfield), an oil and gas development, on the Colville River delta in areas of potential breeding habitat for Spectacled Eiders. To comply with the ESA and to avoid disturbance of Spectacled Eiders during the nesting season, CPAI documented the location of Spectacled Eider nests in areas slated for off-pad activities (e.g., tundra clean-up, surveying, spill prevention). Once active nests were identified, CPAI avoided scheduled work activities around nest locations until after the nesting season. CPAI contracted ABR, Inc., to conduct nest searches for eiders in areas where off-pad work was scheduled during 1 June–1 August 2010. These areas included the CD-3 pad and airstrip, the ice road from CD-2 to CD-3, 13 Alaska Clean Seas (ACS) spill-response equipment sites, and 3 pipeline bridges over channels of the Colville River. Except for the 3 bridge sites, all other sites had been searched for nests and evaluated for suitable eider nesting habitat during the 2009 nesting season. A 200-m buffer around the majority of work sites was searched for eider nests in 2010. Because of transportation limitations on the nest searching crew, sections of the ice road were searched within 50-m and 100-m buffers where litter was scarce (thus requiring no clean-up) or habitat was not suitable for Spectacled Eider nesting.

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Campo Valor
Última actualización 17 Diciembre, 2019, 10:17 (AKST)
Creado 17 Diciembre, 2019, 10:17 (AKST)
Estado Ongoing
Start Date 2010-06-01
End Date 2010-08-30
Other Agencies ConocoPhillips