Defenders of Wildlife Blog

©USFWS

Chris Haney, Ph.D., Defenders of Wildlife Chief Scientist 

For such a relatively small bird, the robin-sized red knot (Calidris canutus) has an extraordinary migration journey. Each year it travels more than 9,000 miles from breeding grounds high in the Canadian Arctic down to remote Tierra del Fuego in South America, where it spends the winter. To survive the trip, these shorebirds must be strong, healthy and resilient.

Horseshoe crab (©Spakattacks/Flickr)

But the red knot is struggling to overcome catastrophic population loss. Over the past ten years, the North American Atlantic population of the red knot (Calidris canutus rufa) has plummeted by 80 percent. Numbers of red knots have crashed by as much as 54 percent on their wintering grounds in two years alone. In New Jersey, where red knots stop to rest and eat before continuing their north-bound journey, they have been declining at a rate of 17.9 percent annually. So what is responsible for the species’ alarming decline?

Commercial over-harvesting of the prehistoric horseshoe crab is a key culprit. Red knots must concentrate in huge numbers at traditional stop-over sites to refuel during their migration, because a single non-stop flight can cover as much as 5,000 miles. Delaware Bay is a key staging area during spring migration, where knots come to feed on eggs of the once-numerous spawning crabs. Some estimates place nearly 90 percent of the entire North American Atlantic population of the red knot on the bay during a single day in May.

When red knots descend on Delaware Bay this spring, famished from their marathon flight from South America, they might find slim pickings instead of their expected feast of eggs from horseshoe crabs. Superstorm Sandy last fall scoured away much of the sand that crabs need for spawning. Restoring beaches is a top priority for wildlife groups who wish to repair massive damage to the dunes, beaches and salt marshes along the Eastern Seaboard.

(©Jan van de Kam)

Aided by grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and others, two feet of new sand covers stretches of beach along swaths as much as 5,000 feet long and 10-15 feet wide. Arriving in 20-cubic-yard dump trucks, one load at a time, enough sand has been dumped to cover about 1,000 cubic yards a day. Sand was targeted for spreading on the most well-known and crucial spots for both the horseshoe crabs and red knot.

This beach replenishment is hoped to provide just enough space for throngs of horseshoe crabs as they crawl out of the bay. Each spawning female will lay up to 100,000 eggs.

Despite the restored habitat, problems for the red knot are not over. Beach restoration will complement other measures, namely a continued closure of the commercial fishery for horseshoe crabs. But with its conservation plight now so well-known and supported, perhaps tide and time are turning for this remarkable shorebird.

President Obama surprised many people when he said last week in his inaugural address: “We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.  Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms.”

Oiled debris field in Sheepshead Bay, NY. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Lally.

“Powerful storms,” of course calls to mind Hurricane Sandy, the October super-storm that swept away our illusions that if we ignore climate change, it will go away. And this week, we are pleased to report that Congress finally acted to fund recovery in the areas so hard hit by that storm.

The $50 billion relief bill is important to Defenders’ priorities because it recognizes that restoring and rebuilding our natural infrastructure is just as important to our communities as rebuilding our roads, homes and businesses. We have long known that natural wetlands, dunes, forests and floodplains can absorb some of the impact from a major storm, thereby protecting communities from the ravages of winds and flooding. But the Sandy supplemental makes a historic commitment to restoring and preserving coastal areas as part of a comprehensive plan to prevent future storm damage.  (See our previous blog for details on the contents of the bill.)

It remains to be seen whether 2013 will mark the point where we finally embark on the road to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the “path towards sustainable energy sources” that the president spoke of last week. That will be the real key to reducing the risk of more billion-dollar weather disasters in the future. By providing the funding  to increase resiliency by harnessing the protective power of restored ecosystems, Congress has at least taken a step in the right direction.

Haley McKey, Communications Associate

Storm surge damage at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (Credit: USFWS Northeast)

This past Tuesday, the House voted on the $50.4 billion Hurricane Sandy supplemental bill.  The outcome?  Results are mixed, but overall, we were pleased to see that there’s good news for both wildlife and people thanks to Representative Frelinghuysen.

The Sandy hurricane supplemental bill (H.R. 152) originally slated for the House floor left out many of the forward-thinking provisions the administration and the Senate’s relief bill proposed for restoring coastal ecosystems.  But Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) saw the need to keep these provisions, and introduced an amendment restoring most of them to the bill.

His amendment included the full amount of much-needed funding that the Obama administration requested for repairs and restoration at national wildlife refuges.  The storm cost our refuges a total of $78 million in damages from flooding, erosion, and debris, 16% of the National Wildlife Refuge System’s total budget.  Unfortunately, nearly $10 million of this funding that would have gone to repairing damage on the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge in Connecticut was subsequently stripped by an amendment offered by Rep. John Fleming (R-LA).

The Frelinghysen amendment also provides the National Park Service with $348 million to repair damages that occurred on national parks.  The USDA will get funding for restoration and repair to private property: a total of $203 million for restoring damaged farmland and forestland and reducing flood risks.

In addition, the amendment provides a crucial $360 million to Department of the Interior programs to “increase the resiliency and capacity of coastal habitat and infrastructure to withstand future storms and reduce the amount of damage caused by such storms.”  The Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the U.S. Geological Survey and other programs will all be included.  Restoration will also be funded through grants and cooperative agreements with states, tribes and municipalities.

Finally, it gives $2.9 billion to the Army Corps of Engineers for planning and constructing flood-reducing projects that support the long-term sustainability of coastal ecosystems.  It also sets down some new ground rules: the amendment requires the Army Corps of Engineers to reconsider projects that were authorized before Hurricane Sandy and other extreme weather events.  These and all future project plans must take current scientific projections of climate-related risks into account.  This is a big step towards making climate planning a part of all building decisions, and will help ensure the success of future projects.

However, the House also passed two other amendments which aren’t so beneficial.   An amendment offered by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) prohibits use of any funds in the bill for land acquisition, which prevents the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and USDA from using these funds to acquire flood-prone habitat to act as a buffer to protect communities.  An amendment offered by Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX) also passed, cutting $150 million in coastal funding that could have gone towards improving the quality and resilience of marine wildlife habitat.

Fortunately the House wisely voted down the disastrous amendment offered by Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), which called for offsetting $17 billion of the funds in the bill with discretionary funding cuts across the board.  The amendment would have forced cuts in important environmental programs, already underfunded, forcing these programs to scrape by even more and even eliminate essential activities.  Overall, the Hurricane Sandy supplemental bill passed by the House is a forward-looking and ground-breaking piece of legislation that will address important issues like preventing future flood damage, repairing damaged areas in refuges and parks, restoring habitat and helping wildlife adapt to climate change.