Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Breeding Range of the Northern Great Plains Piping Plover

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rt 4 ct Zv t (o EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Current Status: Piping plovers were listed under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act on January 10, 1986. The Northern Great Plains population was listed as threatened'. Critical habitat was designated on the Northern Great Plains breeding grounds on September 11,2002. Critical habitat was designated for all populations of piping plovers on the wintering grounds on July 10, 2001, and redesignated in 2008 and 2009. The breeding population of the Northern Great Plains piping plover extends from Nebraska north along the Missouri River through South Dakota, North Dakota, and eastern Montana, and on alkaline (salty) lakes along the Missouri River Coteau(a large plateau extending north and east of the Missouri River) in North Dakota, Montana, and extending into Canada. The majority of piping plovers from Prairie Canada winter along the south Texas coast, while breeding piping plovers from the U.S. are more widely distributed along the Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas. Habitat Requirements and Limiting Factors: In the Northern Great Plains, piping plovers breed and raise young on sparsely vegetated sandbars and reservoir shorelines on river systems as well as on the shorelines of alkaline lakes. Changes in the quality and quantity of riverine habitat due primarily to damming and water withdrawals are a primary threat to the species. On the wintering grounds, piping plovers forage and roost along barrier and mainland beaches, sand, mud, and algal flats, washover passes, salt marshes, and coastal lagoons. Habitat destruction and degradation are pervasive and have reduced suitable habitat. Human disturbance, predation, and invasive plants further reduce breeding and wintering habitat quality and affect survival. Recovery Goal: To remove the Northern Great Plains population of piping plovers from the list of federally Threatened and Endangered Species. Recovery Objective: To restore and maintain a viable population of piping plovers (less than 5 percent likelihood of extinction in the next 50 years) in the Northern Great Plains by 2035. Recovery Strategy: To restore ecosystem function on both the breeding and wintering grounds so that the population can persist into the foreseeable future without extensive human intervention. Because some human activities are likely to continue to impact piping plover habitat, this task will likely involve developing and maintaining public outreach and education and partnerships for long-term protection and management. 'We have always managed the Northern Great Plains piping plover population as a separate population and intend to eventually delist this population as a stand-alone Distinct Population Segment when the data support such an action. Our 2009 5-year review considered this issue and concluded that this population satisfies the criteria of a Distinct Population Segment and can be delisted separately from the remaining piping plover populations(USFWS 2009).