The US Fish and Wildlife Service is offering the Luckenbach Oil Spill Restoration Grant to protect nesting habitats in coastal Alaska.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this project is to reduce human disturbance to nesting habitat of Pacific and Red Throated Loons, as well as waterfowl and Red Phalaropes, in coastal western Alaska. The Pacific Loon and the phalarope were two of the species most severely impacted species by the Luckenbach oil spills. Pacific Black Brant, which will also benefit from this project, were impacted by the spills as well, although to a lesser degree. Many of the species impacted by the spills only nest in the far north, such as in coastal Alaska or along the Arctic Ocean coastline. This is the case with the Pacific and Red Throated Loons and with Red Phalaropes. The loons spend the winter at sea off the coast of California, while the phalarope migrates over the ocean off California. There are no known feasible restoration options for these species in the waters off California. On their breeding grounds, these species face threats from land use changes and human disturbance. On the south side of Kokechik Bay, Alaska, there exists a 30,000 acre parcel that is a private in-holding within the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, YDNWR. This parcel is home to high densities of nesting Pacific and Red-throated Loons, Red Phalaropes, and other wetland species.

OBJECTIVES:

The objectives of this agreement are to:

1. Develop habitat management guidelines to protect and enhance nesting habitat.
2. Provide for and staff access, staging, and camping sites to minimize traffic and activities in sensitive areas.
3. Provide staff to conduct on-site education and outreach about the sensitive resources and provide recommendations on avoiding impacts.
REASON FOR SINGLE SOURCE:

1. Continuation, The activity which this agreement will support is necessary to the continuation of an ongoing activity presently being funded. Nest Protection at Kokechik Flats is a 10 year project. Previous work with Sea Lion Corporation for the protection of nesting waterbirds at Kokechik Flats had been conducted with the Fish and Wildlife Service under cooperative agreements. This years award, however, does not entail substantial Federal involvement.

2. Unique Qualifications, This project has been approved and funded by the
Luckenbach Trustee Council as one of 14 restoration projects to be undertaken in the wake of the S. S. Luckenbach and associated mystery oil spills, as directed under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and NEPA. Sea Lion Corporation, an Alaska Native corporation based in Hooper Bay, Alaska, is the landowner at Kokechik Flats, which is the specifically identified venue for implementation of this project. The S. S. Luckenbach and Associated Mystery Oil Spills Final Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan Environmental Assessment, 2006 indicates that the purpose of the project is to provide Sea Lion Corporation with, the means to conduct ongoing outreach and management, to protect the important waterbird populations and nesting habitat on their own Native corporation lands.