Although fierce opposition from conservation organizations has forced it to scale back its plans, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is nonetheless moving ahead with a plan to kill more than 11,000 Double-crested Cormorants on East Sand Island at the mouth of the Columbia River, right on the border between Oregon and Washington. The plan for East Sand Island, the largest breeding colony for Double-crested Cormorants in North America, also includes oiling 26,000 nests to prevent eggs from hatching. The goal of the plan is to keep the cormorants from feeding on young Endangered salmon and steelhead. Opponents, including Audubon, say that the the birds have been eating salmon for millennia, and that the real problem for the fish lies with the management of the federal hydropower system, habitat loss, and hatchery fish -- and that the Army Corps project is little more than "scapegoating birds." The Audubon Society of Portland has been particularly active opposing this plan.

“We are deeply disappointed that the federal government has chosen to move forward with the wanton slaughter of thousands of protected birds,” said Audubon Society of Portland conservation director Bob Sallinger. “This plan will result in the deaths of thousands of birds, place western populations of Double-crested Cormorants in jeopardy, but do little or nothing to recover threatened salmon populations.”

Just last week, a group of people from Audubon California was visiting the Salton Sea and learned that a major island breeding site for Double-crested Cormorants had been abandoned by the birds because the water level had dropped to such a point that the nests were vulnerable to predators. Several experts have surmised that these cormorants have moved to -- you guess it -- East Sand Island. This is exactly why we talk about flyways at Audubon, because these systems are interconnected. Even if it weren't for that island at the Salton Sea, many of the East Sand Island cormorants would find their way to California.