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INTRODUCTION <br />The Platte River Recovery Implementation Program (Program) was initiated on 1 January, 2007 <br />as a result of a cooperative agreement negotiating process that started in 1997 between the states <br />of Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska; the Department of Interior; waters users; and <br />conservation groups. The Program is intended to address issues related to the Endangered <br />Species Act and loss of habitat in the Platte River between Lexington and Chapman, Nebraska <br />by managing certain land and water resources following principles of adaptive management to <br />provide benefits for 4 "target species ": the endangered whooping crane (Gnus americana), <br />interior least tern (Sterna antillarum), and pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus); and the <br />threatened piping plover (Charadrius melodus). The Program is led by a Governance Committee <br />(GC) that is assisted by several standing advisory committees as well as an Executive Director <br />(ED) and staff. <br />The Program has 3 main elements: <br />• Increasing stream flows in the central Platte River during relevant time periods through re- <br />timing and water conservation/supply projects. The first increment objective is to re -time <br />and improve flows in the central Platte River to reduce shortages to target flows by an <br />average of 130,000 - 150,000 acre -feet per year at Grand Island. <br />• Enhancing, restoring, and protecting habitat lands for the target bird species. The first <br />increment objective is to protect, restore, and maintain 10,000 acres of habitat. <br />• Accommodating certain new water - related activities. <br />In 2007, the Program's Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) agreed to implement a protocol to <br />monitor the distribution and reproductive success of interior least terns and piping plovers in the <br />central Platte River valley for the purpose of documenting reproductive efforts of these species. <br />Monitoring has been a collaborative effort between personnel of Headwaters Corporation <br />(Program staff), Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD), United States Fish and Wildlife <br />Service -Grand Island Field Office (USFWS -GI), Central Platte Natural Resource District <br />(CPNRD), Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District (CNPPID), and the United <br />States Geologic Survey Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center (USGS- NPWRC). Our <br />protocol included monitoring interior least tern and piping plover presence and nesting on <br />midstream -river sandbars and sand and gravel mines along the central Platte River between <br />Lexington and Chapman, Nebraska. Interior least tern and piping plover activity and <br />reproductive success during 2008 and 2009 are summarized in this report. <br />STUDY AREA <br />Our study area encompassed the PRRIP Associated Habitats region of the central Platte River <br />between Lexington and Chapman, Nebraska ( -90 river miles, Figure 1) as well as sandpit <br />complexes within this reach of river. In the central Platte River system, interior least tern and <br />piping plover habitat was located at both on- and off -river sites. River habitat included <br />midstream sandbars used for nesting and the river itself was used for foraging. Off -river habitat <br />included spoil piles of sparsely- or non - vegetated sand and associated sandpit lakes at sand and <br />gravel mines. Interior least terns and piping plovers nested on the expanses of sandy beach and <br />foraged at sandpit lakes or on the river. <br />PRRIP 2008 -2009 Tern /Plover Report Page 6 of 42 <br />