Common Loon Restoration

Funds for this award were derived from a natural resource damages settlement with Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc; to compensate for common loon injured by the Bouchard Barge 120 Oil Spill in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The Natural Resource Trustees (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and State of Rhode Island) prepared a publicly reviewed Final Restoration Plan for Common Loon and Other Birds (Restoration Plan) that identified the Trustees approach for restoration (http://www.fws.gov/newengland). As authorized in the Restoration Plan, the Trustees approved the use of $3,685,500 for a competitive grant to restore common loon through the use of management techniques, including artificial nest sites, signage and wardening, protection of breeding habitat, and through rescue and rehabilitation of stranded individuals and decreasing exposure to lead fishing tackle.