other hot issues
Montana Audubon works on numerous issues that affect birds,
other wildlife, and their habitats. Here are a few that are "HOT":
oil spill on the yellowstone river -- Fall 2011
This past summer’s ExxonMobil Silvertip Pipeline rupture dumped ~ 42,000 gallons of crude oil into the Yellowstone River system. The July 1st spill, which has been blamed on flooding and a shallow pipeline, fouled more than 150 miles of river. Within days, clean-up crews were working alongside the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. A concern for oiled birds and other wildlife also brought in International Bird Rescue, a group with extensive experience rescuing oiled wildlife.
These events defined the summer for many Montanans who live along the Yellowstone River or visit the area to enjoy its natural beauty, inlcuding those who visit and work at our Audubon Conservation Education Center. The long-term impacts, and potential for future ruptures, will continue to be a reality. Where is river cleanup as of late October?
Land and Water Impacts:
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The EPA has now left its duty as lead overseer, claiming ExxonMobil has cleaned up all areas with heavy to moderate oil residue. Since then, the Silvertip pipeline has been replaced and buried 70 feet below the river’s surface—in an attempt to relinquish any chance of a repeat rupture.
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Streamside vegetation, wetlands, and standing pools of water have been treated for heavily contaminated damage including: selective cutting of vegetation; clearing soiled woody debris, removing heavily contaminated soil, and using booms and absorbent pads to clean vegetation and pick up oil in pooling water.
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Sections of Norm Schoenthal Island at our Audubon Center, a key riparian area used for our educational programs, were moderately oiled.
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Only one percent of the oil released into the Yellowstone was estimated to be recovered.
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For contaminated cropland, Exxon purchased the crops from farmers. This was done to prevent irrigation and tilling; these areas will require future soil testing.
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In all, almost 59,000 bags of solid waste has been collected and dumped in landfills in Missoula, Utah, and Wyoming.
Wildlife Impacts:
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Amphibians appear to be the hardest-hit with over 100 saved. This included Woodhouse's Toads and Leopard Frogs.
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Eleven Gartersnakes were rescued.
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Only four birds were caught, cleaned, and released: a Cooper’s Hawk, Canada Goose, American Robin, and warbler (fledgling).
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Although only eighty-three fish were found dead, a sampling of rainbow trout and white sucker showed high concentrations of petroleum in their livers.
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These numbers cannot tell the full story, especially for birds and mammals, becauseitremians difficult to determine whether mortality is caused bynatural causes or oil contamination.
Studies are being initiated to determine the long-term ecological effects from the spill. Currentproposals being considered include work on fish, aquatic insects, and spiny soft-shell turtles—all of which are vulnerable to the effects of oil spills.
Where does this leave all of us who care deeply about Montana’s wildlife and river systems? This and other recent oil spills have drawn attention to the 167,000-mile network of pipelines which run like lattice work across our country. A recent investigation on pipelines by The New York Times, which was summarized by author Bill McKibben, found that, “…pipelines already crisscrossing America are leaking constantly and disastrously, that the federal agency assigned to protect them is so chronically understaffed, and that as a result they’ve left too much of the regulatory control in the hands of pipeline operators themselves.”
The oil that spilled in the longest undammed river in the continental United States drew worldwide attention. Clearly we need more effective guidelines and regulations to ensure businesses protect our shared resources. This challenge is exactly why Montana Audubon has joined forces with the Billings Conservation Community in an effort to push for recommendations to improve oil spill clean-ups, prevent future spills, and demand accountability from state and ExxonMobil officials.
One bright spot on the horizon is the recently introduced Clean Water Act of 2011, co-sponsored by Senators Tester and Baucus. This Act would provide additional safeguards to our system of pipelines and should see federal action this fall. We’ll let you know how best to support this urgently needed legislation.
See below for what you can do!
August 1. Montana Audubon together with others in the conservation Community held a PRESS EVENT and released this PRESS RELEASE.
News reports keep coming (see below for news links).
Excellent commentary also. We highly recommend this thoughtful essay by Ben Long in the Missoula Independent.
And this from Pat Williams in the Helena Independent Record:
The recent fouling of Montana's Yellowstone River is a warning alarm that we must be more diligent to secure the integrity of our priceless waterways. Yesterday's farmers, ranchers, miners and honyockers needed the rivers. Now, under increasing industrial and population pressures, the rivers need us. Read the rest of this opinion piece.
The Yellowstone River is one of the major ribbons of life for our state – a wealth of wildlife species– songbirds, eagles, turtles, fish – rely on healthy waters and land around the Yellowstone.
Montana Audubon, together with our Audubon Education Conservation Center and local Chapter, the Yellowstone Valley Audubon Society, are actively looking for ways to lessen the impact from this spill and will be working to prevent future spills and reduce the pollution and other stressors to our birds and wildlife. We may not be able to find and save every oiled bird, but we can all encourage efforts to move quickly to cleaner and less harmful ways energy sources.
What you can do to help:
- Send us photos if you live in or visit an area that was directly affected by oil. If you have these, please share with Amy.
- Look and listen for changes this fall and winter and as the seasons roll. We may not be attribute changes to the spill but simply tracking change can help tell us how this river will fare and heal. Has an area changed relative to other non-impacted sites?
- Keep a written record of changes you are seeing, hearing and experiencing. Send to Amy.
- Support Montana Audubon's efforts to ensure the Yellowstone is cleaned up and future spills are averted. Make a donation today.
In a nutshell - be observant and document impacts. The more information we can gather documenting changes in the habitat along and in the Yellowstone River, the better understanding we will have of how the oil spill has affected the ecosystem. Please don’t try to rescue wildlife yourself. Handling wildlife that is covered in oil takes expertise – so that damage to the wildlife is minimized and the oil is contained properly.
News Highlights:
The Billings Gazette has a Special Section on the Oil Spill with videos and images.
Many reports from the Associated Press: July 14, July 11, July 7, July 6, July 5
Putting the spill in context - Think Progress, July 14
Nature.com newsblog: Flooding complicates
Photo courtesy Larry Mayer, Billings Gazette
Image clips at top from the Billings Gazette. See their image library for originals and many more.
Pelicans, Cormorants and Fish
In May 2010, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) finalized a 10-year management plan for the Missouri River, from Three Forks to Holter Lake Reservoir (near Helena). The plan, Final Upper Missouri River Reservoir Fisheries Management Plan, suggests that American White Pelicans and Double-crested Cormorants are significantly impacting fisheries on Canyon Ferry Reservoir, and that the FWP Fisheries Bureau should "[w]ork with [the] FWP Wildlife Bureau and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine the impacts of pelicans and cormorants to Canyon Ferry fish populations. Consider active bird management strategies if research shows significant impacts to fish populations.” FWP has indicated that keeping this item in the management plan only commits the agency to studying the impact of these birds on the fishery, stating that, “[a]ny proposal to implement population management measures will require an Environmental Assessment and provide opportunity for public comment. No management action will be taken without thorough research and evaluation of bird and fish interactions.”
Montana Audubon will continue to monitor this management recommendation. Montana Audubon's comments on this issue are HERE.
More information on American White Pelicans and Double-crested Cormorants appears below. 
Pelicans
American White Pelicans are native birds that summer generally in the great plains and intermountain west, as far north as northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. They winter along the southern coasts of the United State through Central America.
Pelicans are colonial nesters, and breeding colonies typically are located on islands in lakes or reservoirs (to avoid mammalian predators). Colony sizes range up to 7,500 nests. The number of colonies, and the number of nests per colony, fluctuates from year to year. For example, Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge, located in northeastern Montana, had 1,690 nests in 1987 and 3,370 nests in 1989.
Information on the types of food consumed by pelicans is limited. From anecdotal and circumstantial evidence, it is clear that pelicans will east many kinds of fish, as well as amphibians and crayfish. Specific prey species documented by direct observation or by finding fish tags include: carp, suckers, chubb, trout, walleye, pike, and bigmouth buffalo. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has looked at the diet of pelicans on Canyon Ferry Reservoir. Of the pelicans tested, the majority of their diet (upwards of 90%) was carp and/or crayfish. These pelicans occasionally also ate rainbow trout, and a few other species.
In Montana, American White Pelicans are considered a Species of Concern. Species of Concern are native species that are at-risk due to declining population trends, threats to their habitats, restricted distribution, and/or other factors. This species is protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Pelicans declined in the mid-1900s because they were vulnerable to the spraying of DDT, endrin, and other organochlorides in agriculture, as well as widespread draining and pollution of wetlands. Montana has only four places in the state where pelicans breed: Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge, Aarod Lake, and Canyon Ferry Reservoir. Recently they have been shown to be particularly susceptible to West-Nile Virus.
More information about pelicans can be found within the Montana Field Guide
2011 American White Pelican (AWPW) Update. Results from our 2009-10 Waterbird Surveys:
There are four known breeding locations for AWPE in Montana. Three are major colonies and one is much smaller. There may be an additional small colony at Alkali Lake, but that remains unconfirmed. In 2009 three sites (the major sites) yielded a total count of 5843 nests but at the other site nests were not counted and a total of 190 individuals were associated with this site. A total of 86 individuals were present with no indication of nesting at 8 other sites in the 2009 survey.
Nesting was again documented at 4 sites in the 2010 survey. Three of these yielded a total of 4823 nests but at the other site nests were not counted and a total of 85 individuals were associated with this site. A total of 338 individuals were present with no indication of nesting at 14 other sites in the 2010 survey. Site totals for these non-nesting birds were as high as 150, the average being 24. These could be non-breeding individuals or those from breeding colonies at other sites. The species is known to travel long distances at times to feed during the nesting period. The earliest AWPE survey of an active colony in 2010 was conducted on 5/26 and the latest on 6/16. This was very close to the timing in 2009.
The AWPE typically nests in large colonies on an island or point that is relatively isolated from predators. The nests are shallow depressions scraped in the ground and lined with twigs and other debris. Where available, partial shade afforded by trees is preferred. Colony locations may vary from year to year depending on water levels and other factors. The timing of egg laying may vary among colonies, even those in close proximity. At Medicine Lake NWR during both seasons there were two sub-colonies, one on a large island and one on a long point from which predators were excluded with an electric fence. At the time of the surveys island nesting birds had only eggs while on the point the nests had well-developed chicks, one invariably much larger than the other, in nearly every nest.
Cormorants
Double-crested Cormorants are native birds that are distributed widely across North America. These cormorants nest near the ocean, as well as in the interior of the United States and Canada. They winter along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico coasts.
Cormorants are colonial nesters. They generally build their nests in trees, on cliff faces, or on islands.
These cormorants mainly eat fish, although they also eats amphibians and crustaceans. Adults eat an average of one pound per day, usually comprised of small (less than 6 inch) bottom dwelling or schooling "forage" fish. According to a 2006 study conducted on Canyon Ferry, Double-crested Cormorants ate the following percentages of different aquatic species: 44% stonecat, 13.2% trout, 13.2 suckers, 15.5% dace, 6.6% sculpins, and 7.7% crayfish. Summarizing this information, the diet of Canyon Ferry cormorants contained approximately 87% nongame fish and 13% game fish (trout).
In Montana, Double-crested Cormorants have no special conservation status. However, this species is protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Double-crested Cormorant numbers decreased in the 1960s due to the effects of DDT.
More information about Double-crested Cormorants can be found at:
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To Kill a Cormorant: Are double-crested cormorants overrunning their niche—or simply recovering from centuries of suppression? Read the 2009 Natural History Magazine article.
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National Audubon Society:
VICTORY FOR COTTONWOODS: SALE OF Russian olive NOW PROHIBITED
Riparian areas are a small part of Montana, yet they are critical for wildlife. In fact, riparian cottonwood forests provide habitat for at least 150 of Montana’s bird species all or part of the year. One significant threat to this habitat is invasion by exotic plants, with Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia ) near the top of the list. In fact, Russian olives out-compete our native cottonwoods, and could eventually replace cottonwoods along our rivers and streams.
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In order to combat this problem, in 2008 Montana Audubon and the Native Plant Society petitioned the Montana Dept. of Agriculture to list Russian olive as a noxious weed. We are pleased to report that after a lot of hard work—and several challenges—as of September, 2010, Russian olive can no longer be sold in the state of Montana. This victory should reduce the spread of this exotic plant—and help protect our important riparian areas!
Russian olive, a plant native to southern Europe and western Asia, has been planted in Montana as an ornamental, for windbreaks, erosion control, and wildlife enhancement purposes. This tree is invasive and it is taking over riparian ecosystems, displacing native cottonwoods and willows on such rivers as the Marias, Missouri, Yellowstone, and Big Horn. If we lose cottonwood habitat along our rivers and streams, an important part of Montana’s wildlife habitat will also be lost.
PHOTO: Northern Flicker. Although cottonwoods are used by cavity nesting birds for nesting, Russian olive is not used by these birds. Cavity nesting birds include woodpeckers, bluebirds, Tree Swallows, chickadees, and more.
For more information on this subject, you can download:
- Fact Sheet on Russian olive (pdf)
- Petition to list Russian olive as a Noxious Weed (pdf)
- Montana Audubon Russian olive Guidance Document (pdf)
And listen to this Yellowstone Public Radio piece (December 7, 2010): Russian olive eradication.
The silver color of Russian olive makes it easy to spot on the landscape:
