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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />, <br />I <br />I <br />J <br />I <br />I <br />~ <br />, <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />~~4!f1G3 <br />,.; __ ~~ v ..... . <br /> <br />SECTIONFIVE <br /> <br />Piping Plover <br /> <br />Much of the information presented in this section was taken from the Biological Opinion (BO) <br />prepared by the FWS for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Preferred Alternative for <br />the Kingsley Dam Project (Project No. 1417) and North Platte/Keystone Dam Project (Project <br />No. 1835) (FWS 1997). Much of the information in the BO was taken from the Great Lakes and <br />Northern Great Plains Piping Plover Recovery Plan (FWS 1988) and Haig (1992). <br /> <br />5.1 HISTORY <br /> <br />The piping plover (Charadrius melodus) was listed as a threatened species on December 11, <br />1985 (50 FR 50733). The current breeding range for the Great Plains extends from alkali <br />wetlands in southeastern Alberta through southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba to Lake of the <br />Woods in southwestern Ontario and northwestern Minnesota, south along major prairie rivers <br />(i.e., Yellowstone, Missouri, Niobrara, North Platte [Lake McConaughy], Platte, and Loup); <br />reservoirs in southeastern Colorado; and alkali wetlands in northeastern Montana, North Dakota, <br />and South Dakota. Occasional breeding has occurred in Oklahoma and northern Saskatchewan. <br />The piping plover winters along Gulf Coast beaches and sand/mudflats from Florida to Mexico. <br />Large numbers of piping plovers are observed wintering along the Texas coast (FWS 1997). <br />Spoil islands in the Intercoastal Waterway are also used (FWS 1988). <br /> <br />The historic breeding range of piping plovers in Nebraska included the Missouri River, Platte <br />River, portions of the Loup Rover, and about 75 miles of the Niobrara River (NGPC 1995). The <br />piping plover can still be found nesting on naturally occurring sandbars along the Niobrara River, <br />the lower Platte River, and the Loup River. <br /> <br />Since 1900, piping plover populations have fluctuated drastically. Uncontrolled market hunting <br />in the early 1900s brought the species close to extinction. Protective legislation helped the <br />piping plover populations recover by 1925. Since then, human encroachment, an increase in the <br />recreational use of sandbars and beaches, the channelization and impoundment of rivers, and the <br />resultant modification and destruction of habitat have caused piping plover numbers to decline <br />again. In addition, winter habitats are threatened by industrial and urban developments that can <br />result in whole-scale destruction of wintering sites (FWS 1988). Piping plovers have been <br />extirpated from Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire, and they <br />no longer nest on the shores of Lake Ontario. Breeding populations are precariously low <br />throughout the Great Plains region. <br /> <br />5.2 REASONS FOR DECLINE <br /> <br />The piping plover is a species with highly variable annual reproductive success that uses <br />freshwater and saline wetland habitats throughout its annual cycle. These ephemeral habitats <br />render birds susceptible to frequent nest destruction and, consequently, drastic population <br />fluctuations (FWS 1988). Factors that have contributed to the decline of the piping plover <br />include habitat alteration and destruction, overutilization by humans, predation, and inadequate <br />regulatory mechanisms. Each of these factors are briefly discussed in the following subsections. <br /> <br />IIRS IInIiDet ........" /:fJi'e <br />1edIraI Selo1tr:..s <br /> <br />68FQ091286OC1rt.dOC 6I2f1999(9:52 AM)lURSGWCFSf2 5-1 <br />