Summary of Second Regional Workshop on Dredging, Beach Nourishment, and Bids on the North Atlantic Coast

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the American Bird Conservancy, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service organized a workshop on October 25 27, 2005, in Long Island, NY. The goal of the workshop was to disseminate information on the beneficial use of dredged material deposition along the North Atlantic Coast for the purpose of improving beach nourishment and other Corps operations to increase coastal habitat quality, and to improve the management and conservation of colonial and non-colonial waterbirds and shorebirds. This region involves the operations of four Corps Districts including the Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and New England Districts. The workshop consisted of a series of presentations from numerous federal, state, and conservation organizations actively involved in the monitoring and managing of dredged material deposition for habitat improvement for birds and other wildlife species. In general, the presentations highlighted the status of current efforts to promote bird conservation in Corps operations and emphasized areas where improvements can be made. These areas include (1) identifying important inlets and other areas for birds along the North Atlantic Coast; (2) linking current conservation of birds in the North Atlantic Coast regions with regional bird conservation plans already developed; (3) improving data acquisition, database storage and accessibility; (4) engaging local communities to promote conservation alongside recreational and economic interests; and (5) improving our abilities to integrate issues of scale including local, regional, and national impacts of Corps activities on the conservation of waterbird and shorebird populations. The original document contains color images.