richard | 
01 29th, 2009| 
In recent months, there are a number of changes in the protection of endangered Piping Plover. At the beginning of November, the National Park Service (NPS) has released five alternatives for managing off-road vehicles in Cape Hatteras National for the protection of coastal areas and other Plover breeding turtles and shorebirds, including rule 311. Access to the beach vehicles Hatteras is the difference between organizations concerned about the threat of protection of flora and fauna, and 3 1 1 recreation groups, who want to maximize opportunities for beach driving.
I am the Piping Plover. You are excused
Defenders of Wildlife and National Audubon Society asked Park Service, in 2007, due to a lack of off-road vehicle management plan on the coast, pending the completion of a long regulatory process of negotiations. The group settled in the suit in April 2008, as a result of interim management procedures. These included the closure of the beach to vehicles and pedestrians in areas at Bodie Island spit, Cape Point, Hatteras spit and Ocracoke Island, and expanded buffers around an active player.
Five management alternatives NPS issued only to the long-term contracts that do not have to be completed by 2011, until then, temporary measures will remain. The Agency intends to have a draft environmental impact statement analyzing the end of five management alternatives open to the public in the fall of 2009.
At the end of October, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) final decision on the definition of critical habitat Plover wintering in North Carolina. Critical Habitat (CH) is fixed in the law on endangered species for use as a center for the recovery of endangered species of animals or plants, and may not include the areas occupied by the species. A CH name may apply to the federal or state and private land affected by the federally funded projects, which prohibits activities that are harmful to the species, but not shelter system. It is also the case that federal agencies consult FWS any commands or programs before the issuance of the permit may have an impact on the environment.
Piping Plover is in the midst of a series of legal action by the defenders and other groups had sued the department in 1996 as the failure to designate CH for the species. In 2000, a judge ruled in favor of the defenders, and ordered the agency to designate CH for the Great Lakes and Northern Great Plains Plover population. However, the Agency has concluded that it was able to distinguish it from other birds wintering Piping Plover on the grounds, and therefore CH designated for all species from North Carolina to Texas.
In 2003, after a challenge Dare and Hyde counties in North Carolina and Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance, a support group of off-road vehicle, the agency had to re-name CH. The last line is the result of the procedure is very similar to the original name, which consists of 2,043 hectares in four areas of Dare and Hyde counties.
“Critical habitat designation is appropriate and we hope that, in order to ensure the protection of wintering plover, especially in the Cape Hatteras” said Jason Rylander staff attorney with the defenders of nature.
Currently, there are only about 6,000 left .. Piping Plover is a threatened species, as listed in the Great Lakes region, and potentially elsewhere in the United States. It is also considered as endangered in Canada.
North Carolina is extremely important for Pipelines Plover all stages of their annual cycle. Several other States Parties to maintain their interest in the nest, in winter, and the two migrations. Critical habitat designation great news. Hopefully NPS chose alternative off-road vehicle management seasonal Pipelines Plover protection for key posts, recreation and access to the sea.
