WSP01978

• File Number: 8460.500
• Description: Platte River Recovery Plan
• Basin: South Platte
• Date: 9/1/1990
• Author: USFWS
• Title: Interior Population of the Least Tern - Recovery Plan
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

Aside from the Section 7 consultation on the Missouri River, the Corps
Master Manual for river operattons is under review. If upper Missouri
River Basin states have their w~y for holding water in the reservoirs for
recreation and fisheries, nav~gation in the Missouri River could be
reduced and maintenance of the 60mmercia1 navigation project above Omaha
could become infeasible. The reach between Sioux City, Iowa and the mouth
of the Platte River could once more be available to interior least terns.

Montana: Current efforts inq1ude surveys to determine the number and
distribution of interior. least ~erns along the Missouri and Yellowstone
Rivers and along the shores of the Fort Peck Reservoir.
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North Dakota: Censusing has! been conducted along the Missouri River
since 1982 and along the Yellowstone River since 1986. Habitat
requirements are being estimatea and recommendations are being made for
the management of Missouri River habitat. Research continues on
reproductive success and on methods to increase productivity. Resource
agencies are involved with a variety of public relations efforts to.'
curtail human disturbance on Mi~souri River sandbars and islands.

South Dakota: Detailed studi~s of interior least tern nesting ecology
continue at Missouri and Cheyen~e.,River sandbars and along the reservoir
shoreline of Lake Oahe. ResoUrce agencies are involved with public
relations efforts to curtail human disturbance on the Missouri River.
Management activities include the posting of nesting sites and
informational signs at boat ramps and elsewhere. This has been
complemented with enforcement a~tions being taken by state and federal
officials. Recent amendments to: South Dakota law prohibit the harassment
of least tern nesting and reari~g sites on the Missouri River.
,

Nebraska: Nebraska supports dne of the largest breeding populations of
interior least terns. . Annual s*rveys have been carried out since 1979.
Efforts are underway to quantif~ available nesting habitat On the Platte
River at various river flows. Research on reproductive success, habitat
selection, foraging ecology, pr~dation and the value of sand and gravel
pits continues along the Platte Riiver (Kirsch 1987-89, Lingle 1989, Wilson
et a1. 1989). I
,

A flow management plan has I been prepared for the Missouri River
(Nebraska Game and Parks Commiss~on 1985c) and certain instream flows have
been determined on the Platte River for the interior least tern, its
habitat and forage fish, and for: other wildlife and resources (Table 8).
In 1990 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ordered the
Nebraska Public Power District tp maintain the instream flows in Table 8
for interior least terns (50 FIJ:RC Report (CCH) 61,180) (Sidle et a1.
1990). The District seeks a ne~ license to operate diversion dams and
other facilities associated with the Lake McConaughy reservoir on the
North Platte River. . Lake McConaJghy was constructed in the late 1930s and
licensed for 50 years. The i dam, diversion structures, and other
facilities have had a major impact on the downstream habitat of the

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