[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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