Plover stays on endangered list

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Federal wildlife officials have rejected two petitions to remove the Western snowy plover from Endangered Species Act protections, but they proposed easing penalties for harming the tiny shorebirds in areas where the population seems to be recovering.

The birds live on Pacific coast beaches, laying their eggs in depressions in open sand where they are vulnerable to predators and people. That has led since 1999 to the closure of the dry sand portions of many miles of beaches during the March-through-September nesting season, just when humans like to go to the beach.

A total of 77 hatchlings were counted in November on the Oregon coast, the second-highest number on record.

The 77 survived long enough to fly and leave their parents, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

There were 107 last year, but it’s still more than twice the average of 37 since biologists began tracking the birds in 1990.

As of now, 153 to 158 plovers live on the Oregon coast, the highest number since monitoring began.

The Surf Ocean Beach Commission of Lompoc and the city of Morro Bay had filed to remove the species from federal protection in California, Oregon and Washington, arguing that the snowy plover isn’t in danger of extinction and isn’t genetically distinct from inland populations.

Fish and Wildlife rejected the petitions Friday, finding there was not enough crossbreeding between inland and coastal plovers to sustain the beach-breeding variety. Most of the estimated 2,600 birds, listed as “threatened” since 1993, live south of San Francisco.

But the wildlife service also said that counties with approved management plans for plovers and that are meeting goals for recovery of the species shouldn’t face the same restrictions as other areas if some of the nesting birds are disturbed.