TOWARDS THE INTEGRATION OF FEDERAL DREDGING AND BEACH NOURISHMENT ACTIVITIES WITH NORTH AMERICAN COASTAL BIRD CONSERVATION PROGRAMS

摘要

Approximately 53% of the US population currently lives in coastal counties and this number is expected to continue increasing. High population density along with the importance of coastal areas for commercial and recreational navigation systems leads to significant pressure on environmental resources. These pressures have contributed to population declines and continuing threats to breeding, migrating, and roosting waterbirds and shorebirds, several of which migrate between the northern and southern hemisphere. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the federal agency charged with coastal shore protection and the maintenance of navigable waterways. As part of its mission, the USACE has significant opportunities to dispose dredged material for coastal island creation and maintenance, wetland restoration, and beach nourishment projects in ways that contribute to coastal bird conservation. There currently is a nationwide effort among federal agencies, non-govemmental organizations, and others to improve the planning, construction, and management of coastal dredging, beach nourishment, and shore-protection projects under USACE authority. The goals are to reduce conflicts between coastal engineering projects . and bird habitat needs, and to enhance and manage these sites for birds while at the time facilitating completion of authorized projects. This paper and accompanying presentation will provide an overview of dredging and shore-protection issues in North America as they relate to coastal birds, a summary of current coastal bird conservation efforts, and some suggestions for future actions that could help to effectively integrate the two. Although we focus on these issues in North America, similar issues and conflicts exist in coastal areas throughout the world.