Comments on the Proposal to Install an Inflatable Dam in the Susquehanna River in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Robert L. Wasilewski, Vice President
Greater Wyoming Valley Audubon Society
February 8, 1999
In June of 1998, the Luzerne County (Pennsylvania) Flood Protection Authority, at the recommendation of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), requested that I monitor a pair of federally endangered peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) that had established residence in the vicinity of construction activity that was being carried out in conjunction with the Wyoming Valley Levee Raising Project. Although my contract period extended from June 9, 1998 to June 27, 1998, I continued to regularly monitor the falcons beyond the termination date of my contract on a voluntary basis for local and state organizations and agencies. My monitoring efforts provided me not only with an opportunity to document the behavior of the peregrine falcons, but also to observe, and to document the behavior of, a variety of other birds and mammals that use the Susquehanna River corridor in the Wilkes-Barre area. Documentation of my observations, and my comments and recommendations on behalf of the Greater Wyoming Valley Audubon Society, appear in the following pages.