[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 24 (Monday, February 6, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7067-7068]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-2935]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Notice of Availability of a Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the
Piping Plover, Atlantic Coast Population, for Review and Comment
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announces the availability
for public review of a draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Piping
Plover (Charadrius melodus), Atlantic Coast Population. This population
of piping plover, a small North American shorebird, breeds on Atlantic
Coast beaches from Newfoundland to North Carolina and winters along the
Atlantic Coasts from North Carolina south, along the Gulf Coast, and in
the Caribbean. The population was listed as threatened in 1986, and the
original recovery plan was approved in 1988. The revised plan draft
modifies the recovery goal and recommends recovery activities that
should continue or be initiated. If the revised plan is successfully
implemented, full recovery may be achieved by 2010. The Service
solicits review and comment from the public on this draft Plan.
DATES: Comments on the draft Recovery Plan must be received May 8,
1995, to receive consideration by the Service.
ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the draft Recovery Plan can obtain
a copy from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region Five, 300
Westgate Center Drive, Hadley, Massachusetts 01035, (telephone 413/253-
8628). Comments should be sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Weir Hill Road, Sudbury, Massachusetts 01776 (telephone 508/443-4325
and fax 508/443-2898), to the attention of Anne Hecht.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Anne Hecht at 508/443-4325 (see Addresses).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Restoring an endangered or threatened animal or plant to the point
where it is again a secure, self-sustaining member of its ecosystem is
a primary goal of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's endangered
species program. To help guide the recovery effort, the Service is
working to prepare Recovery Plans for most of the listed species native
to the United States. Recovery Plans describe actions considered
necessary for conservation of the species, establish criteria for the
recovery levels for downlisting or delisting them, and estimate time
and cost for implementing the recovery measures needed.
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.) requires the development of Recovery Plans for listed
species unless such a Plan would not promote the conservation of a
particular species. Section 4(f) of the Act, as amended in 1988,
requires that public notice and an opportunity for public review and
comment be provided during Recovery Plan development. The Service will
consider all information presented during a public comment period prior
to approval of each new or revised Recovery Plan. The Service and other
Federal agencies will also take these comments into account in the
course of implementing Recovery Plans.
The document submitted for review is the draft Piping Plover
(Charadrius melodus), Atlantic Coast Population, Revised Recovery Plan.
The piping plover is a small shorebird listed as threatened in its
Atlantic Coast and Great Plains breeding ranges and endangered in the
Great Lakes watershed. To facilitate recovery of this wide-ranging but
dwindling species, two separate recovery programs, one for the Atlantic
Coast population and one for inland-nesting piping plovers, have been
established. This plan deals only with piping plovers that breed on
Atlantic coast beaches from Newfoundland to North Carolina. These
birds, and those from inland populations, winter along the Atlantic
Coast from North Carolina south, along the Gulf Coast, and in the
Caribbean.
The Atlantic Coast piping plover population has increased from
approximately 800 pairs since its listing in January 1986 to 1150 pairs
in 1994. However, most of the apparent increase between 1986 and 1989
was attributed to increased survey effort in two states, and the
population increase between 1989 and 1994 has been unevenly
distributed. Since 1989, the New England subpopulation has increased
244 pairs, while the New York-New Jersey subpopulation gained 14 pairs,
and the Southern (DE-MD-VA-NC) and Atlantic Canada subpopulations
declined by 13 and 51 pairs, respectively. Substantially higher
productivity rates have also been observed in New England than
elsewhere in the population's range. Furthermore, recovery is occurring
in the context of an extremely intensive protection effort now being
implemented on an annual basis. Pressure on Atlantic Coast beach
habitat from development and human disturbance is pervasive and
[[Page 7068]] unrelenting, and the species is sparsely distributed.
Piping plovers nest above the high tide line on coastal beaches,
sandflats at the ends of sandspits and barrier islands, gently sloping
foredunes, blowout areas behind primary dunes, and washover areas cut
into or between dunes. Feeding areas include intertidal portions of
ocean beaches, washover areas, mudflats, sandflats, wrack lines,
sparsely vegetated dunes, and shorelines of coastal ponds, lagoons or
salt marshes. Wintering plovers on the Atlantic Coast are generally
found at accreting ends of barriers islands, along sandy peninsulas,
and near coastal inlets.
Loss and degradation of habitat due to development and shoreline
stabilization have been a major contributors to the species' decline.
Disturbance by humans and pets often reduces the functional suitability
of habitat and causes direct and indirect mortality of eggs and chicks.
Predation has also been identified as a major factor limiting piping
plover reproductive success at many Atlantic Coast sites, and
substantial evidence shows that human activities are affecting types,
numbers, and activity patterns of patterns of predators, thereby
exacerbating natural predation.
The draft under review is a revision of a recovery plan that was
approved in 1988. Since that time, important new information regarding
piping plover survival and fecundity rates, habitat carrying capacity,
and dispersal within the population has become available, facilitating
re-evaluation of the original recovery goal. With the assistance of
experts in computerized population viability modeling, the Atlantic
Coast piping plover recovery team has performed extensive analyses of
the 1988 recovery goal, which called for ``a self-sustaining population
of 1200 breeding pairs while maintaining the current distribution.''
The result of these analyses is a revised recovery goal based upon the
following delisting criteria: (1) Increase and maintain for five years
a total of 2,000 breeding pairs, distributed among four recovery units
as follows: Atlantic Canada, 400 pairs; New England, 625 pairs; New
York-New Jersey, 575 pairs; Southern (DE-MD-VA-NC), 400 pairs. (2)
Verify the adequacy of a 2000 pair population of piping plovers to
maintain heterozygosity and allelic diversity over the long term. (3)
Achieve a five-year average productivity rate of 1.5 fledged chicks per
pair in each of the four recovery units described in criterion 1, based
on data from sites that collectively support at least 90% of the
recovery unit's population. (4) Institute long-term agreements to
assure protection and management sufficient to maintain the target
populations and average productivity in each recovery unit. (5) Assure
long-term maintenance of wintering habitat, sufficient in quantity and
quality to maintain survival.
Experience gained since the 1988 plan was prepared has also
resulted in refinements of activities needed to meet these recovery
criteria. Continuing and proposed recovery activities include:
management of piping plover populations and breeding habitat to
maximize survival and productivity, monitoring and management of
wintering and migration areas to maximize survival and recruitment into
the breeding population, scientific investigations to facilitate
recovery efforts, and public information and education programs.
Guidance appended to the new plan includes: (a) Summary of current
and needed management activities at each current and potential breeding
site; (b) guidelines for managing recreational activities in piping
plover breeding habitat to avoid take; and (c) guidelines for
preparation and evaluation of applications for permits for incidental
take of piping plovers that will allow steady continued progress
towards recovery.
The 118% increase in the New England population between 1989 and
1994 demonstrates that rapid recovery of the Atlantic Coast piping
plover is possible with intensive protection efforts. Contingent, on
vigorous implementation of all recovery tasks, full recovery is
anticipated by the year 2010.
The draft Recovery Plan revision is being submitted for agency
review. After consideration of comments received during the review
period, the Plan will be submitted for final approval.
Public Comments Solicited
The Service solicits written comments on the Recovery Plan
described. All comments received by the data specified above will be
considered prior to approval of the Plan.
Authority: The authority for this action is Section 4(f) of the
Endangered Species Act, 16 U.s.C. 1533(f).
Dated: January 26, 1995.
Cathy Short,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 95-2935 Filed 2-3-95; 8:45 am]
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