In this Edition: Feature Articles: FOPPI Update, Tim Sweet The Friends of Plum USFWS Double-Crested & Cormorant Damage Pilot Islands Forum Management Decision Roof Replacement on Pilot www.plumandpilot.org Summer, 2009 Dock Repair Project I’m pleased to report the progress made since our spring newsletter. Martin Andersen and his workers completed roofing the Pilot Island Lighthouse Island Inspirations: prior to the return of the migratory birds. What a relief it is to have that Plum Island Birding Workshop building sealed off from the weather. WICKE Event Sandy Petersen’s Door Islands Bird Festival included two trips to Plum Island Plum Island Crew-1915 thanks to Gary and Cindy Wilson and their boat Summer Wind. Birders were appreciative of having the opportunity to be among the first members of the public to visit the Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge while having a Light Lessons: chance to search the trees for their fine-feathered friends. The First Plum Island Randy Holm and his volunteer work crew deserve a huge thank you for Lighthouse, continued replacing rotten timbers on the Plum Island dock with new ones on a beautiful Saturday in June. That group of eager Friends can’t wait to take on another project soon. Book Review: A good turnout of concerned citizens stopped by the Washington Island Lost Lighthouses Community Center gymnasium on June 17th, to express their opinions Stargazing Memories of a regarding the future of the Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Members of the US Fish and Wildlife Service were on hand to discuss the Comprehensive Young Lighthouse Keeper Conservation Planning process that will result in a 15-year management Guarding Door County plan for Hog, Plum, and Pilot Islands. In case you were unable to attend this Lighthouses and Life-Saving session, or a similar one in Sturgeon Bay June 18th, written comments will continue to be accepted through August 14, 2009. Here is the contact Stations information needed: Mail: Email: US Fish and Wildlife Service [email protected] Welcome New Members! Horicon NWR (Please note ‘Green Bay National Attention: Patti Meyers Wildlife Refuge – Plum and Pilot W4279 Headquarters Road Islands’ and ‘CCP Comment’ in the Mayville, WI 53050 subject line.) We are currently trying to hire a painting contractor to remove lead paint from the exterior of the Plum Island boathouse and help us get the building repainted this summer. Donations are still needed and will gladly be accepted. Finally, a group of Girl Scouts is scheduled to volunteer on Plum Island in August. Some volunteer trail work opportunities may be available on Saturday, August 29th. Please contact me if you would like more information on this possibility when it becomes available. -Tim Sweet Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands Forum Page 1 USFWS Midwest News: Agencies Release Final Decision on Double-Crested Cormorant Damage Management Federal and State agencies released the final Decision and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for an Environmental Assessment (EA) on double-crested cormorant management in Wisconsin. The EA considered five alternatives for cormorant damage management in Wisconsin and was developed because of concerns regarding cormorant impacts on vegetation, other colonial waterbirds, commercial aquaculture, private property, recreational fisheries, and risks to human safety. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service - Wildlife Services, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources cooperated on the EA. After considering comments received during the public review process, the agencies’ preferred alternative is to use an Integrated Wildlife Damage Management approach to reduce cormorant damage and risks to public safety. Cormorant damage management could be conducted anywhere in Wisconsin, but the plan emphasizes the Green Bay and Lake Winnebago areas where concerns about cormorant impacts on natural resources are greatest. Exclusion, habitat modification or harassment could be used when appropriate. In other situations, local cormorant populations may be managed by shooting, egg oiling, egg and nest destruction, or euthanasia following live capture. Cormorant colonies will be reduced at Hat, Jack, and Cat Islands in Green Bay for the protection of natural resources, including fish. Cormorant colonies will be reduced to 1,000 breeding pairs at Cat Island, and 500 breeding pairs each at Hat and Jack Islands. The agencies also plan to prevent cormorants from establishing new colonies in the Green Bay/Door County Area, with special emphasis on sites with sensitive plant species or tree-nesting herons and egrets, including Hog, Plum and Lone Tree Islands. Egg-oiling will be the primary method used to reduce cormorant colonies at locations such as Hat, Jack and Cat Island where most vegetation has already been lost and a gradual reduction in colony size is acceptable. Shooting will be among the methods that may be used at sites where a more rapid reduction in nesting cormorants is needed to protect existing vegetation. Damage management activities will not be conducted at Spider and Pilot Islands in Green Bay and Gravel Island National Wildlife Refuges at this time. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the current information on cormorant impacts on local fish populations does not warrant cormorant damage management at refuges established for the protection of migratory birds, including cormorants. Instead, the islands will serve as sites where no cormorant damage management is conducted. This will this allow scientists to continue cormorant population research on the islands and also provide a comparison to colonies with cormorant damage management. Cormorants at inland sites will be managed on a case-by-case basis. Historically, several inland sites supported cormorant colonies without reports of adverse impacts. However, the agencies will manage cormorants at other sites, such as Miller’s Bay and Long Point Islands in Lake Winnebago, where there is evidence of cormorant damage to vegetation used by black-crowned night-herons and state-threatened great egrets. The number of cormorants on the islands increased from approximately 358 breeding birds in 2000 to 4,818 breeding birds in 2008. This year, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has asked Wildlife Services to lethally remove up to 2,400 cormorants from the site to reduce damage problems. The state cormorant population was estimated at 14,882 breeding pairs in 2005. More than 80 percent of the nesting pairs in Wisconsin are in the Lower Green Bay and Door County areas. Substantial numbers of cormorants also migrate through Wisconsin in spring and fall. In 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service established a Public Resource Depredation Order allowing more Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands Forum Page 2 flexibility in the management of double-crested cormorants where they are causing damage to public resources such as fisheries, vegetation and other birds. Without the depredation order, agencies and individuals would not be able to use lethal methods to manage cormorant damage without a federal permit. Agencies acting under the order must have landowner permission, may not adversely affect other migratory birds or threatened or endangered species, and must satisfy annual reporting and evaluation requirements. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will ensure the long-term sustainability of cormorant populations through oversight of agency activities and population monitoring. Copies of the final EA, Decisions and Findings of No Significant Impact may be downloaded from the Fish and Wildlife Service’s web site at http://www.fws.gov/midwest/MidwestBird/cormorants.htm and the Wildlife Services web site at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/nepa.shtml. Hard copies may be obtained by contacting USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services, 732 Lois Dr., Sun Prairie, WI 53590, (608) 837-2727, FAX (608) 837-6754. The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit http://www.fws.gov. Pilot Island Roof Replacement Martin Andersen, a Washington Island contractor, and his crew from Washington Island were able to finish roofing the south side of the Pilot Island Lighthouse in April. That proved to be a difficult task due to a long winter and a cold, windy spring. Andersen reported a narrow window of favorable weather occurred between April 8 - 13, which allowed the completion of work that began last November. The workmen were just able to beat the return of migratory water birds that usually arrive back to this part of the Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge by mid-April. A barge was used to haul off scaffolding and other equipment on a particularly calm day. Landing conditions on this remote Lake Michigan island, located in the treacherous Death’s Door Passage, make construction projects extremely difficult and dangerous. The project is the first phase of a building stabilization plan the Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, hope to complete on these two historic Door County islands. Photo by Martin Andersen Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands Forum Page 3 Dock Repair Project, by Randy Holm On Saturday June 13, 2009 a work party of volunteers traveled to Plum Island to replace badly deteriorated dock timbers. Included in the group were Bill Kreiger and his grandson Brennan Kreiger, Allen Roberts, Chris Anderson, Howard Schmidt, Wendy Beilfus, Gary Luedke and Randy Holm-team leader and organizer of this crew.