As part of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s expansion of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, VDOT will pave over the South Island, an artificial island that is home to the largest seabird nesting colony in Virginia. South Island hosts 25,000 gulls, skimmers and terns, including the state-threatened Gull-billed Tern, and it’s the only nesting site in Virginia for Royal Terns and Sandwich Terns. This is a quote from the NY times from Dec 24, 2019 on the issue:
“As the state of Virginia prepared for a major bridge and tunnel expansion in the tidewaters of the Chesapeake Bay last year, engineers understood that the nesting grounds of 25,000 gulls, black skimmers, royal terns and other seabirds were about to be plowed under.
To compensate, they considered developing an artificial island as a haven. Then in June 2018, the Trump administration stepped in. While the federal government “appreciates” the state’s efforts, new rules in Washington had eliminated criminal penalties for “incidental” migratory bird deaths that came in the course of normal business, administration officials advised. Such conservation measure were now “purely voluntary.”
The state ended its island planning.”
Audubon Society of Northern Virginia,the Virginia Society of Ornithology and two local Audubon chapters have encouraged Virginia to create a new artificial island as a nesting place for the birds. However, it is no means certain that it will happen since a letter from VDOT to the VSO states that construction of an island will NOT be in conjunction with the VDOT expansion project. Instead the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is evaluating the feasibility of using the dredged material for an island but that the financing, permitting and timing of a new island are yet to be determined.
It’s important to keep the pressure on! You can help save these imperiled birds by writing to the Governor, Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, the Virginia Department of Natural Resources, and VDOT urging them to take action immediately. The shorebirds will be returning to the Hampton Roads area in March, and they will need new nesting grounds when they arrive. Send your letters now to:
The Honorable Ralph S. Northam, Governor
Post Office Box 1475
Richmond, VA 23218
Matthew J. Strickler
Secretary of Natural Resources
Post Office Box 1475
Richmond, VA 23218
[email protected]
Ryan Brown, Executive Director
Gray Anderson, Chief of Wildlife
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
P.O. Box 90778
Henrico, VA 23228-0778
Stephen C. Brich
Commissioner, Department of Transportation
1401 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
