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shorelines and inlets, or that otherwise prevent natural processes from replenishing plover <br /> habitat. Human and pet access to roosting and foraging areas should be sufficiently restricted so <br /> that birds can feed and rest without being disturbed (activities should not significantly alter or <br /> disrupt the birds' behavior). Development and implementation of an outreach strategy that raises <br /> public awareness of the presence and foraging/roosting needs of plovers and other shorebirds <br /> would help to diminish this disturbance. <br /> While the wintering grounds presumably extend into Mexico, we do not have good information <br /> about the percentage of the population that winters in Mexico. If more information becomes <br /> available suggesting that the Gulf in Mexico supports a large percentage of the birds, this issue <br /> will need to be revisited, in conjunction with Mexican biologists and managers. <br /> At this time, because the USFWS has no authority outside of the U.S., we are not setting targets <br /> outside of the U.S., but acknowledge that for recovery, piping plovers and their habitat will <br /> likely require protection both in the U.S. and outside the nation's borders where they breed and <br /> winter. We encourage international partnerships to be developed and maintained to address <br /> piping plover recovery together (e.g., Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies 2014). <br /> Additional factors beneficial to the species but not known to be critical for recovery at this <br /> time: <br /> While the following factors are not necessary for species' recovery, and therefore are not <br /> included as recovery criteria, they do represent potentially important considerations from a <br /> population dynamics standpoint. We encourage further research and monitoring work. <br /> Additional Factor 1B: Maintaining the breeding population in the outer extents of the <br /> range <br /> We recognize the importance of having a geographically dispersed population, and are cognizant <br /> of the risks associated with a shrinking range. As such, we encourage continued monitoring and <br /> management of the small populations in Colorado and Lake of the Woods, Minnesota to increase <br /> and stabilize the populations in these areas. <br /> In particular, Lake of the Woods may have represented a route of interchange between the <br /> Northern Great Plains and the Great Lakes piping plover populations based on the presence of a <br /> larger population that was documented there as recently as the 1980s. Although an individual <br /> banded in the Southern Rivers portion Missouri River was documented attempting to nest in <br /> Lake of the Woods, these birds are currently isolated from the rest of the Northern Great Plains <br /> population and were not considered essential to the actual recovery of the Northern Great Plains <br /> piping plover population as a whole. However, we do encourage continued efforts to restore <br /> these populations in the hopes that they will flourish and contribute to the larger Northern Great <br /> Plains population in the future. <br /> 70 <br /> VOLUME I:Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Breeding Range of the Northern Great Plains Piping Plover(Charadrius <br /> melodus) <br />