by Meaghan Lyon, Wildlife Biologist
At the beginning of February, CWF biologists Todd Pover, and Meaghan Lyon attended the USFWS’s Piping Plover and Least Tern Workshop at the National Conservation Training Center in West Virginia. The winter season is the perfect time for beach nesting bird folks to gather and discuss the status of each state’s breeding population and how we can do better to reach recovery goals for these endangered species in the coming years.
For management purposes, the east coast of the United States is broken up into three sections; the Southern recovery unit, the mid-Atlantic recovery unit (this is New York and New Jersey!), and the New England recovery unit. The Southern recovery unit, consisting of plovers breeding from North Carolina north to Delaware, has been on a decreasing trend for productivity and not meeting recovery goals, whereas the population in New England is booming with pairs (so much so that plovers are nesting in parking lots and the backyards of beach front homes!). New Jersey and New York have been holding steady with 581 pairs of piping plover combined and just barely meeting our collective recovery goal.
Topics of high interest among the group of roughly 100 participants included predators, migratory pathways, and advancing diversity and inclusion among our community. Biologists across the coast have been grappling with predation by ghost crabs and this could be increasingly problematic in the future with impacts from climate change. As the climate warms, we could be seeing more mild winters, which translates to less crab die off during the winter and bigger crabs during the beach nesting bird season, thence becoming more of a threat to nests and chicks.
Workshops like this allow us to join together and discuss what is working and what is or could be problematic in the future so that biologist across the range can be well equipped with the knowledge and connections to protect plovers and all of the other species that use beach habitats across the range.
Help Northern Long-Eared Bats Become Listed as Endangered Species
Saturday, November 22nd, 2014By: Lindsay McNamara, Communications Coordinator
Photo Credit: MacKenzie Hall
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reopened the public comment period on a proposal to list the northern long-eared bat as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Comments will be accepted through Thursday, December 18, 2014.
The public is invited to submit comments one of two ways:
(1) Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter Docket No. FWS–R5–ES–2011–0024. You may submit a comment by clicking on “Comment Now!”
(2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail or hand-delivery to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS–R5–ES–2011–0024; Division of Policy and Directives Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: BPHC; 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
During the previous comment period, from June 30 to August 29, 2014, USFWS received over 65,800 comments on this issue!
Why is it so important?
The Northern Long Eared Bat, like many other bat species in the United States, is in danger of extinction due to White-Nose Syndrome, impacts to hibernacula, summer habitat loss and wind farm operation. Listing a species as endangered, under the protections of the Act, increases the priority of the species for funds, grants, and recovery opportunities.
How Else Can You Help Protect Northern Long-Eared Bats?
These tips were pulled from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Northern Long-Eared Bat Fact Sheet:
Learn more:
Lindsay McNamara is the Communications Coordinator for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.
Tags: 2014, Bat Boxes, bats, endangered, Endangered Species Act, New Jersey, new jersey wildlife, Northern Long Eared Bat, Public Comment, US Fish and Wildlife Service, White-nose Syndrome, wildlife
Posted in Bats, Wildlife News, Wildlife Protection | 1 Comment »