Deepwater Horizon Early Restoration North Breton Island Restoration Project Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana 04EL1000-2014-F-0200 Biological Opinion Conference Opinion May 9,2014 Prepared by: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 646 Cajundome Boulevard, Suite 400 Lafayette, LA U .6. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE DWH-AR0230533 TABLE OF CONTENTS Consultation History ................................................................................................................................................2 BIOLOGICAL AND CONFERENCE OPINIONS........................................................................................... 2 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ACTION........................................................................................2 Action area ...................................................................................................................................................4 STATUS OE THE SPECIES/CRITICAL HABITAT................................................................................. 4 Piping Plover Species/critical habitat description .......................................................................................................... 4 Eife history...................................................................................................................................................6 Population dynamics .................................................................................................................................10 Status and distribution ............................................................................................................................. 13 Analysis of the species/critical habitat likely to be affected ...............................................................33 Red Knot Species/critical habitat description ........................................................................................................ 34 Eife history.................................................................................................................................................34 Population dynamics ................................................................................................................................ 39 Status and distribution .............................................................................................................................48 Analysis of the species/critical habitat likely to be affected ...............................................................66 ENVIRONMENTAE BASEEINE...............................................................................................................66 Status of the species within the action area .......................................................................................... 69 Factors affecting species environment within the action area ............................................................70 EFFECTS OE THE ACTION........................................................................................................................71 Factors to he considered ..........................................................................................................................72 Analyses for the effects of the action ....................................................................................................75 Species’ response to the proposed action ............................................................................................. 76 CUMULATIVE EEEECTS...........................................................................................................................77 CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................................... 77 INCIDENTAL TAKE STATEMENT................................................................................................................79 AMOUNT OR EXTENT OE TAKE ANTICIPATED.............................................................................79 EFEECT OE THE TA K E.............................................................................................................................. 80 REASONABEE AND PRUDENT MEASURES......................................................................................80 TERMS AND CONDITIONS.......................................................................................................................82 COORDINATION OF INCIDENTAL TAKE STATEMENT WITH OTHER LAWS, REGULATIONS, AND POLICIES.............................................................................................................83 Migratory Bird Treaty Act.......................................................................................................................83 CONSERVATION RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................................................................84 REINITIATION NOTICE....................................................................................................................................84 EITERATURE CITED......................................................................................................................................... 89 APPENDIX A: Standard Conditions for In-water Work in the Presence of Manatees .............................A-1 APPENDIX B: Eigures.......................................................................................................................................B-1 APPENDIX C: Non-breeding Piping Plover and Red Knot Survey Guidelines ........................................C-1 APPENDIX D: Eouisiana Guidelines for Minimizing Disturbance to Colonial Nesting Birds .............. D-1 NBIR biological opinion IPage i DWH-AR0230534 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Species and critical habitat evaluated for effects from the proposed action but not discussed further in this biological opinion ...........................................................................................................2 Table 2. The number of adult piping plovers and breeding pairs reported in the U.S. Northern Great Plains by the TPPC efforts ....................................................................................................................10 Table 3. Results of the 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2006 Intemational Piping Plover Winter Censuses 14 Table 4. Summary of the extent of nourished beaches in piping plover wintering and migrating habitat within the conterminous U.S ................................................................................................................ 19 Table 5. Visually estimated numbers of navigable mainland and barrier island inlets and hardened inlets by state ......................................................................................................................................... 20 Table 6. Summary of predator control programs that may benefit piping plovers on winter and migration grounds ..................................................................................................................................24 Table 7. Percent of known piping plover winter and migration habitat locations, by state, where various types of anthropogenic disturbance have been reported ....................................................26 Table 8. Military bases that occur within the wintering/migration range of piping plovers and contain piping plover habitat............................................................................................................................. 27 Table 9. Number of sites surveyed during the 2006 winter IPPC with hardened or developed stractures adjacent to the shoreline .......................................................................................................................31 Table 10. Percent of dry land within 3.3 feet (1 m) of high water by intensity of development along the U.S. Atlantic Coast ............................................................................................................................55 Table 11. The lengths and percentages of developed and undeveloped sandy, oceanfront beaches along the Southeast Atlantic and Culf coasts ..........................................................................................55 Table 12. Piping plover and red knot survey results within the action area and nearby islands ................ 70 NBIR biological opinion IPage ii DWH-AR0230535 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. The proposed action would be located at the southern end of the Chandeleur Islands harrier island system in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana ...........................................................................B-1 Figure 2. The conceptual design for the North Breton Island Restoration Project is based upon the pre- Hurricane Katrina island footprint ..................................................................................................B-2 Figure 3. The approximate location of the offshore shoal that is the target borrow area for the North Breton Island project .........................................................................................................................B-3 Figure 4. Breeding population distribution in wintering/migration range ..................................................B-4 Figure 5. The known wintering range of the rufa red knot ...........................................................................B-5 Figure 6. The known stopover areas along the rafa red knot’s migration route ........................................B-6