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Designation of Critical Habitatfor Spectacled Eiders and Steller's Eiders |
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated critical habitat in Alaska for the spectacled eider and Alaska-breeding population of the Steller's eider. Both species are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act (Act). Total area designated as critical habitat is 40,833 mi2.
For the spectacled eider, critical habitat has been designated in molting areas in Norton Sound and Ledyard Bay, breeding areas in central and southern Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, and wintering area in waters south of St. Lawrence Island. A total of 38,991 mi2 is designated as critical habitat for spectacled eiders.
For the Steller's eider, critical habitat has been designated in breeding areas on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, staging area in the Kuskokwim Shoals, and molting areas in waters associated with the Seal Islands, Nelson Lagoon, and Izembek Lagoon in Southwestern Alaska. A total of 2,830 mi2 is designated as critical habitat for Steller's eiders.
Proposed rules to designate critical habitat were published on February 8, 2000 (spectacled eider) and March 13, 2000 (Steller's eider). The comment periods following publication of the proposed rules were lengthy: 231 days for spectacled eiders, and 197 days for Steller's eiders. During these comment periods we conducted an extensive outreach effort to solicit comments and additional information from individuals, groups, and communities interested in or affected by the proposed designations. We specifically sought input from Alaska Natives with traditional ecological knowledge of eiders and their habitats, eider experts, and peer reviewers. The comment period closed September 25, 2000. Following closure of the comment period we evaluated all comments and developed the final critical habitat determinations. In accordance with the terms of the settlement agreement obligating us to review the critical habitat determinations, the final determinations were signed January 10, 2001.
When the Service first developed the proposals to designate critical habitat we believed that critical habitat designation should broadly identify those areas that we believe are essential to the conservation of the species. In response to comments received during the public comment period, in addition to further scrutiny of the best available information, we have refined the final designations to more specifically and precisely identify the areas we believe are essential to the conservation of these two species.
Although we believe some portion of the North Slope is essential for the conservation of both eider species and therefore meets the definition of critical habitat, we have not designated critical habitat on the North Slope. The Act provides that an area essential to the conservation of listed species can be excluded from critical habitat designation if the benefits of excluding the area outweigh the benefits of designating the area as critical habitat, provided that exclusion does not result in the extinction of the species. There are few, if any, benefits of designating critical habitat on the North Slope at this time. Federal agencies already consult with us on activities they are associated with on the North Slope. Our experience with these consultations is that it is unlikely that critical habitat designation will change their outcome. Moreover, those wishing to carry out activities on the North Slope are already aware of the importance of the North Slope to breeding spectacled and Steller's eiders, so there is no informational benefit of designating critical habitat. There are disadvantages of designating critical habitat on the North Slope. We believe that some portion, though not all, of the North Slope is essential to the conservation of spectacled eiders and Steller's eiders, yet the available information does not allow us to discern which specific areas should be designated as critical habitat. While a subset of the North Slope could be designated as critical habitat, we believe that to designate such an area without a more reliable biological basis would convey an inaccurate message about the size and location needed for recovery and may undermine ongoing cooperative efforts to carry out conservation efforts. We have therefore determined that the benefits of excluding the North Slope from critical habitat designation outweigh the benefits of delineating critical habitat on the North Slope, and this exclusion will not result in the extinction of either eider species.
We eliminated proposed critical habitat areas that the best available information indicates are not essential to the conservation of the species. With regard to the spectacled eider we eliminated the following proposed units: North Slope-offshore, Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta-marine, and North Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. With regard to the Steller's eider we eliminated the Nunivak Islands, Eastern Aleutians, Alaska Peninsula-south side, Kodiak Archipelago and Kachemak Bay/Ninilchik, and most of the North Side of the Alaska Peninsula. While these areas are not designated as critical habitat they still contain important habitat for eiders, and the protections afforded by the Act still apply to spectacled eiders and Steller's eiders occurring outside of designated critical habitat.
We reduced the area of some proposed critical habitat units to more precisely delineate only those areas that are essential for the conservation of the species. With regard to the spectacled eider, critical habitat boundaries of the Central and South Yukon-Kuskokwim units were revised to exclude upland areas unsuitable for eider habitat nesting. Critical habitat boundaries for the Norton Sound and Ledyard Bay units were revised to exclude areas in which water depth and sparse sightings of eiders suggest the areas are not essential for molting. With regard to the Steller's eider, critical habitat boundaries for the Yukon-Kuskokwim unit were revised to exclude habitat not suitable for breeding. The Kuskokwim Shoals unit is a reduction of the proposed Kuskokwim Bay unit and includes only the area where large concentrations of Steller's eiders and sightings of Alaska-breeding eiders have occurred.
The only regulatory effect of critical habitat designation is that federal agencies must consult with the Service for activities it permits, funds, or carries out in critical habitat. The purpose of consultation is to ensure that these activities do not adversely modify critical habitat. Agencies must already consult with the Service on their activities where spectacled and Steller's eiders occur to ensure that the activities do not jeopardize the continued existence of the eiders. The definitions of "adverse modification" and "jeopardy" are virtually the same, and based on our previous experience with consultations in areas where eiders occur it is not likely that the consultation process or the results of consultations will change as a result of critical habitat designation. Critical habitat designation has no regulatory impact on activities conducted on non-federal lands if there is no federal nexus with those activities.
The Service agreed to reevaluate critical habitat designations for the spectacled eider and Steller's eider as part of a settlement agreement in a lawsuit filed in March 1999 by the Center for Biological Diversity and Christians Caring for Creation. These organizations challenged our earlier decisions to not designate critical habitat for spectacled and Steller's eiders when they were listed in 1993 and 1997, respectively. Until recently the Service has generally not designated critical habitat for listed species because we believed that critical habitat afforded few, if any, protections beyond those conferred by listing. For example, when a species is listed it is protected from taking, federal agencies must consult with the Service on activities that may affect the species, and recovery planning must begin. The Service felt that appropriate habitat considerations were incorporated through management actions other than critical habitat designation, and thus generally opted to not spend its limited listing resources on designating critical habitat. However, federal courts have overwhelmingly disagreed with this approach, and in case law established over the last several years the courts have made it clear that critical habitat must generally be designated for listed species.
There is still much to learn about the ecology and biology of spectacled eiders and Steller's eiders. Identification of critical habitat needs for Steller's eiders in particular is hindered by the absence of a recovery plan and information on key aspects of the species' population biology. Congress has appropriated $600,000 in FY 2001 to be used by the Alaska Sea Life Center for research related to recovery needs for spectacled and Steller's eiders.
The Service will convene the Steller's Eider Recovery Team in 2001 to continue development of a draft Steller's Eider Recovery Plan. The Recovery Plan will identify actions to achieve recovery of this species. In addition, the Service will initiate or continue research to answer the many unresolved questions concerning this species. Examples of research include identification of North Slope breeding habitat essential to the species' conservation; evaluation of predation effects on North Slope breeding eiders; determination of migration pathways; identification of specific wintering locations; identification of distribution and density of eiders on North Slope; determination of annual variability in distribution on non-breeding range; identification of factors causing population decline; comparison of current and historical population status.
The Service will convene the Spectacled Eider Recovery Team in 2001 to begin revision of the Spectacled Eider Recovery Plan. In addition, the Service will initiate or continue research to address unresolved questions concerning this species. Examples of research include identification of factors limiting recovery of this species; identification of population trends; development of a visibility correction factor for population surveys on the North Slope, determination of breeding density and nesting success outside of currently developed areas on the North Slope; identification of effects of contaminants on eider biology and ecology.