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  • Scraping barnacles gives salmon a fighting chance

    Army Corps employees scrape barnacle buildup along the filling tunnels at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, Seattle, fulfilling a federal law requirement to help improve endangered salmon’s chances of survival, by reducing their potential for injury or death.

  • Protect and Preserve: Kansas City District works to manage habitat for endangered species

    Every year on the third Friday in May, people around the world observe Endangered Species Day. This day is a chance to learn about fish, wildlife, and plants in need of protection. For many U.S. Army Corps of Engineer employees, this day is another day in a career dedicated to preserving vulnerable wildlife and ecosystems. USACE has one of the largest environmental missions in the federal government. The Kansas City District’s conservation biologists, environmental specialists, natural resource specialists, natural resource managers and park rangers see this day as a chance to educate others on the efforts they are making to protect endangered species on federal land.

  • The Use of US Army Corps of Engineers Reservoirs as Stopover Sites for the Aransas–Wood Buffalo Population of Whooping Crane

    Abstract: This technical report summarizes the use of US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) reservoirs as spring and fall migration stopover sites for the endangered Aransas–Wood Buffalo population of whooping cranes (WHCR), which proved much greater than previously known. We assessed stopover use within the migration flyway with satellite transmitter data on 68 WHCR during 2009–2018 from a study by the US Geological Survey (USGS) and collaborators, resulting in over 165,000 location records, supplemented by incidental observations from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the USGS Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (BISON) databases. Significant stopover use was observed during both spring and fall migration, and one reservoir served as a wintering location in multiple years. Future efforts should include (a) continued monitoring for WHCR at USACE reservoirs within the flyway; (b) reservoir-specific management plans at all projects with significant WHCR stopover; (c) a USACE-specific and range-wide Endangered Species Act Section 7(a)(1) conservation plan that specifies proactive conservation actions; (d) habitat management plans that include potential pool-level modifications during spring and fall to optimize stopover habitat conditions; and (e) continued evaluation of habitat conditions at USACE reservoirs.

  • Implementing Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 (a)(1) Conservation Planning During US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Coastal Engineering

    Purpose: This technical note was developed by the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center–Environmental Laboratory (ERDC-EL) to provide guidance to the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on implementing Endangered Species Act* (ESA) Section 7(a)(1) conservation planning, in coordination with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) during coastal engineering projects. USACE expends ~$200–$300 million each year on compliance, conservation, and other activities associated with the ESA (USACE 2022), and these expenditures often exceed those of other federal agencies (for example, US Bureau of Land Management) that have jurisdiction over far greater land holdings than USACE. To streamline the ESA compliance process, lower costs, and generate more positive outcomes for federally listed threatened and endangered species (TES), USACE was directed in June 2015 by the Deputy Commanding General (DCG) for Civil and Emergency Operations to proactively identify and incorporate conservation benefits into all projects when and where opportunities arise, under the authority of Section 7(a)(1) of the ESA (USACE 2015). The DCG identified Section 7(a)(1) conservation planning as a mechanism to efficiently achieve project purposes, create environmental value, and streamline the ESA Section 7(a)(2) consultation process

  • Corps’ park rangers, engineers begin initial planning for security, restoration barrier at Mojave River Dam

    Set against the backdrop of the San Bernardino Mountains, the Mojave River Dam and its surrounding area is known for many things – its beautiful landscape filled with Joshua trees, desert flora and fauna, and the national scenic Pacific Crest Trail, an area frequented by hikers and equestrian riders. It also has become an area recreated illegally by off-road vehicle enthusiasts, an activity prohibited in and around the dam because the area is designated as a critical habitat for endangered species.

  • Long Way to Go for North American Right Whale

    Despite new mother/calf sightings for the 2022 birthing season the North American Right Whale remains in danger of extinction.

  • Summary of Collaborative Wildlife Protection and Recovery Initiative (CWPRI) Conservation Workshop: Least Bell’s Vireo

    Abstract: This special report summarizes the regional workshop held 24–26 April 2018 at the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Ecological Services Office in Carlsbad, California on the importance of collaboration among federal, state, and nongovernmental agencies to facilitate the recovery of threatened and endangered species (TES). This workshop focused primarily on one species, the least Bell’s vireo (LBVI), and how to achieve full recovery and eventual delisting through agency partnerships. A major theme of the workshop was applying the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7(a)(1) conservation planning process as a building block towards recovery of LBVI—as well as other threatened, endangered, and at-risk riparian species within the Southwest. The main objective of this workshop was to assemble an interagency and interdisciplinary group of wildlife biologists and managers to detail how the Section 7(a)(1) conservation planning approach, in consultation with the USFWS, can assist in the recovery of LBVI primarily on federal lands but also other public and private lands. Goals of this workshop were to (1) review Section 7(a)(1); (2) outline LBVI ecosystem processes, life history, threats, and conservation solutions; and (3) develop and organize agency commitments to collaborative conservation practices.

  • USACE Vicksburg District hosts awards ceremony for MS SLOPES team

    VICKSBURG, Miss. – Regulatory Division team members from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District were recently recognized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for their contributions to the MS SLOPES tool development.

  • Chief of Engineers signs report recommending ecosystem restoration in Prado Basin

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ top general signed a report April 22 – on Earth Day – recommending a plan to restore more than 600 acres of valuable riparian habitat within the largest riparian forest in Southern California. Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon, the Corps’ commanding general and 55th U.S. Army chief of engineers, signed the Chief of Engineer’s Report for the Prado Basin Ecosystem Restoration and Water Conservation Feasibility Study at the Corps’ headquarters in Washington, D.C. The project is headed by the Corps’ Los Angeles District, in partnership with the Orange County Water District.

  • Fate and flows: Oregon native keeps water moving through state

    PORTLAND, Ore. -- Salina Hart dreams about water. It makes sense: she grew up on the water, and often went tubing down the local Clackamas River, the North Santiam and the Long Tom. Even after the massive local floods of 1996 swelled the river, inundated her home and took out most of her neighborhood, she still loved water.