Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Missouri: The Missouri Department of Conservation maintains an active <br />conservation, management and research program for interior least terns. <br />The Missouri River has been thoroughly surveyed for potential habitat; <br />Mississippi River colonies are closely monitored and under detailed study; <br />and management plans have been developed. Regulations provide special <br />protective status for least tern nesting areas on Department owned islands <br />and sandbars. Public information programs about the interior least tern <br />are widespread. <br /> <br />Kansas: The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks has funded <br />research on distribution, reproductive success, banding and inter-colonial <br />movements, foraging ecology, and predation since 1980. Annual surveys <br />along the Cimarron River and at the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge have <br />been conducted since 1980. Successful habitat alteration and management <br />has been on-going since 1985. Studies also have focused on the issue of <br />inadequate instream flows in both the Cimarron and Arkansas rivers in <br />Kansas. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />Oklahoma: The largest concentration of least terns in Oklahoma is at <br />Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge. This area has been studied <br />intermittently since 1977. Research at river nesting sites has been on- <br />going since 1982. The Cimarron and Arkansas rivers have received more <br />survey and distribution effort than the Red and Canadian rivers. Various <br />studies of reproductive success, inter-colonial movements and foraging <br />ecology have been conducted at Salt Plains, Optima Reservoir and the <br />western reaches of the Cimarron River. Posting, fencing and extensive <br />news media efforts have been successful at Optima Reservoir and the <br />western reaches of the Cimarron River. Nesting sites on the Cimarron <br />River continue to be threatened by several river diversion and impoundment <br />proposals. A memorandum of understanding has been developed between The <br />Nature Conservancy, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Oklahoma Department of <br />Wildlife Conservation, U. s. Fish and Wildlife Service, Tulsa Audubon <br />Society, River Parks Authority and riverbed landowners for protection and <br />management of essential habitat on the Arkansas River in Tulsa County. <br /> <br />Mississinni River States: The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers has <br />undertaken extensive census work along the Mississippi River between <br />Illinois and Vicksburg, Mississippi, and along the Arkansas River to the <br />Oklahoma border. Their surveys have provided the only information on the <br />tern on the Mississippi River below the State of Missouri. The locations <br />of colonies are monitored and the information is used by regulatory <br />personnel to evaluate permit applications and in planning operations and <br />maintenance activities on the lower Mississippi River. <br /> <br />Texas and New Mexico: The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has <br />examined the numbers and distribution of interior least terns along the <br />Rio Grande River and rivers in the Texas Panhandle, and investigated <br />genetic characteristics of coastal and interior least terns. The New <br />Mexico Department of Game and Fish has conducted several years of surveys <br />and studies and developed management recommendations for interior least <br />terns at and near the Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge along Pecos <br />River (Jungemann 1988). <br /> <br />27 <br />