Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ManagingWildlifeatJFK
JohnF.KennedyInternationalAirport
ThePortAuthorityofNewYork&NewJersey
h
h i
f
k&
JFK
JamaicaBay
Wildlife Ref ge
WildlifeRefuge
History:CreatinganAirport
y
g
p
In1942,theCityofNewYorkcontractedtoplace
hydraulic fill over the marshy tidelands on the
hydraulicfilloverthemarshytidelandsonthe
siteofIdlewild GolfCourse.
OpenedtocommercialflightsinJuly1948,
Opened to commercial flights in July 1948
Idlewild Airportwasoriginallyplannedfor1,000
acres.
acres.
In1963theairportwasrenamedJohnF.
Kennedy International Airport and today it
KennedyInternationalAirportandtodayit
encompassesalmost5,000acres,(2,000acresin
theAOA))
SettingtheStage
g
g
EffortstoprotectJamaicaBaybeganinthelate
1930s
U.S.Fish&WildlifeService(USFWS)surveysland
adjacenttotheairportforevaluationasawildlife
refugein1951
JamaicaBayWildlifeRefuge(JBWR)wascreatedto
providefoodandsanctuaryformigratorybirds
alongtheAtlanticcoastandincludes650acresof
saltmarsh
CopingWiththeBirds
Changesmadeinresponseto1975incident:
Ch
d i
t 1975 i id t
Increaseduseofcarbidecannons
Betterequippedvehiclesforthebirdpatrol
Better equipped vehicles for the bird patrol
Increasedemphasisonuseofpyrosandshooting
PlacementofafulltimepersonintheFAAcontrol
Placement of a full time person in the FAA control
towertomonitorairportbirdpresenceandhazards
p
g
g
Improveddrainageandfillingtoreducewater
SaltingoftheChapelPooluntilitcouldbe
permanentlydrained
Evaluationofinsecticideandpesticideusetocontrol
birdpresenceontheairport
EcologicalstudybyFWS(USDAnow)started
E l i l t d b FWS (USDA
) t t d
AGrowingProblem
LaughinggullsbeginnestingatJBWRin1979atthe
end of Runway 4L/22R
endofRunway4L/22R
In1979thereare88reportedgullstrikes,including2
l
laughinggullstrikes(2%)
hi
ll t ik (2%)
By1989thereare279gullstrikes,including171
l
laughinggullstrikes(61%)
hi
ll ik (61%)
Withtheincreaseinbirdstrikes,JFKinvitesablue
ribbonpanelofinternationalexpertstoreview
wildlifemanagementattheairport
TheSecondConflict
BHTFrecommendslethalcontrolofgullsat
meeting in 1988
meetingin1988
NPSdisagreeswithrecommendationand
calls for independent panel to review
callsforindependentpaneltoreview
PAagreestopayforreviewbyBlueRibbon
panel of independent ornithologists selected
panelofindependentornithologistsselected
byNPS
Panelconcludes
Panel concludes it
itisselfevidentthatthe
is self evident that the
laughinggullcolonyinitspresentlocation
p
presentsanunacceptablehazardtoaircraft
p
operationsatJFK
GettingSomeRelief
TheEdgemere andFountainAvenueLandfills
(7 000 and 17 000 ft from JFK respectively)
(7,000and17,000ft.fromJFK,respectively)
providedabundantfoodsourcesforJamaica
Bay gulls
Baygulls
AftercooperatingwiththeCityofNewYork,
b h l dfill
bothlandfillswereclosedin1986(Fountain
l di
(
i
Avenue)&1991(Edgemere)
Sinceclosingthelandfills,thenumberof
strikesforcertainbirdspeciessuchas
commonbarnowlshasdecreased
Timeline
1990Laughinggulleggsoiled
1990
Laughing gull eggs oiled
1991USDAinitiatesgullshootingprogram
1992 PAsued&EISstarted;annualLAGUnestsurveysstart
1994 EIScompleted
EIS completed
1995PAWildlifeBiologisthiredfulltime
1996Experimentalfalconryprogramstarts
1998 2 yr grass height study started by USDA
19982yrgrassheightstudystartedbyUSDA
1999JFKhiresnewwildlifebiologist
2000 ChangesmadetotitleanddutiesofJFKWildlife
Supervisors
2001 NewWHAstarts
2003Insect/gulldietstudy(2yrs)
2004 Propanecannonstudy
Propane cannon st d
2006 LocalCAGOmovementstudy(2yrs)
2010 NewWHAstarts
2011 Falconryprogramreplaced
F l
l d
1990
Recommendation:
R
d ti
The1989BlueRibbonpanelrecommended
...aneffectivecontrolprogram(tobe
ff ti
t l
(t b
adoptedduring1990)shouldincludethe
oiling of all eggs in the laughing gull colony
oilingofalleggsinthelaughinggullcolony.
PAAction:
Funded$190,000experimentaleggoiling
F d d $190 000
i
t l
ili
programconductedbyNPS&Universityof
Massachusetts Program did not significantly
Massachusetts.Programdidnotsignificantly
reducethenumberofbirdstrikes.
1991
Recommendations:
Closenearbylandfills.
y
Reducegullstrikehazardusinglethalcontrol.
PA Action:
PAAction:
NegotiatedwithCityofNYSanitationDept.to
close Edgemere Landfill.
closeEdgemere
EnteredintocooperativeagreementwithUSDA
for an operational gull control program
foranoperationalgullcontrolprogram
shootinggullsastheyattemptedtocrossactive
y
runways.LAGUstrikeswerereduced68%.
1992
Recommendation:
Untilthegullcolonyisrelocated,conductan
annualnestingcolonysurveyandaninterimgull
shootingprogram
Testaviantasterepellent,methylanthranilate
(MA)
PAAction
EnteredintocooperativeagreementwithUSDA
for$130,000foranestcolonysurvey,an
environmental assessment and an operational
environmentalassessment,andanoperational
gullcontrolprogram
Allowed USDA to test MA in 19911992 in pools
AllowedUSDAtotestMAin19911992inpools
oftemporarystandingwater
LaughingGullNestingSurvey
g g
g
y
ConductedinconjunctionwithNationalPark
S i
ServiceandUSDAWildlifeServices
d USDA Wildlif S i
Conductedannuallysince1992inearlyJune
on4marshes:Joco,EastHighMeadow,
SilverHole,EastJocoIsland
Groundbasedsurveyin1990estimated
,
(
p 1991))
7,629nests(GriffinandHoopes
6,875 1,280nestscounted19922011;
1,979 nests estimated for 2011
1,979nestsestimatedfor2011
1993
Recommendation:
Improveaccuracyofnestingsurveyusing
Improve accuracy of nesting survey using
groundtruthing plotsinadditiontoaerial
surveys
PAAction:
Fundedground
Funded groundbased
basedsurveysconductedby
surveys conducted by
USDA,NPS,&PAtodeterminecorrection
factorsforaerialsurveys.USDAcalculated
differencesintheactualnumberofnestsby
meansof9% 14%(DolbeerandBernhardt
2002).
2002)
1994
Recommendation:
CompleteanEnvironmentalImpact
C
l t
E i
t lI
t
Statement(EIS)ontheGullHazard
Red ction Program
ReductionProgram.
PAAction:
FundedanEISwrittenbyUSDAand
USFWSandcompletedinMay1994.
1995
Recommendation:
Hirefulltimewildlifebiologistonstaff
PAAction:
i
FulltimeWildlifeBiologisthired
1996
Recommendation:
Investigatetheuseoffalconstocontrol
birdsontheairport
PAAction:
Contractedfor2
Contracted for 2month
monthexperimental
experimental
falconryprogramwithprofessional
falconers
1998
Recommendation:
Evaluatetheeffectofmorefrequentmowingon
q
g
currentgrassmanagementplan
PA Action:
PAAction:
Funded2yr.USDAstudycomparingbirdand
mammal use of mowed and unmowed plots.
mammaluseofmowedandunmowed
plots
Grassmaintainedat1525cmhadthelowestbird
and mammal populations compared to unmowed
andmammalpopulationscomparedtounmowed
plots(Barras,Carrara,Dolbeer,Chipman,and
Bernhardt 2000)
Bernhardt2000).
1999
Recommendation:
Investigateanypotentialnegativeimpacts
of jackrabbits and cottontails.
ofjackrabbitsandcottontails.
PAAction:
FundedandassistedUSDAwithfirst
F d d d
i t d USDA ith fi t
jackrabbitandcottontailsurveysatJFK.
L
Lagomorphpopulationsarenothazardous
h
l ti
th
d
toaircraftatcurrentlevels.
2000
Recommendation:
Improveeffectivenessofwildlifestaff
PAAction:
AuthorizetheuseofpyrosbyWildlifeAgents
IncreasethenumberofstaffattendingBirdHazard
Managementtraining
Developandusenewuniformforwildlifeduty
Offeradditionaltrainingopportunitiestowildlife
staff
Updatedpyroequipmentandfirearms
2005 2006
Issue:
RestorationofFountain&PennAveLandfills
PA A ti
PAAction:
MetwithNYCDEPtodiscussplan
CoordinatedwithUSDAWS&NYCDEP
DiscussedissueatJFKBHTF
PArequestedNYCDEPmodifyvegetationplanand
developadaptivemanagementandmonitoringplan
NYCDEPagreedtomodifysomevegetation,develop
planandhiredconsultantstoconductregularbird
monitoring and conduct some non lethal harassment
monitoringandconductsomenonlethalharassment
20092012
Issue:
ReductionofCanadagoosepopulations
nearJFK&LGA
PAAction:
FormedNYCWildlifeHazardSteeringCommittee
involvingthedecisionmakers
StartedSEISforJFK
DiscussedissueswithBHTF
WorkedwithUSDA,NYC,&FAAtoapplypressure
toNPSforaction
Workisongoing!