USFWS will not list Snowy Plover or Reclassify the Wintering Population of Piping Plover

[Fern Davies]

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On 8 Sept 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announced a 90-day finding on a petition to list the snowy plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) as endangered or threatened and to reclassify the wintering population of piping plover (Charadrius melodus) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act

of 1973, as amended (Act).

 

The Service found that the petition does not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted. This finding is based on our determination that the

petition did not identify listable entities. Therefore, the Service is not initiating a status review for either species in response to this petition.

 

However, the Service asks the public to submit to us any new information that becomes available concerning the status of, or threats to, the snowy plover or the piping plover or their respective habitats at

any time.The petition was filed on September 4, 2000, from Robert R. Reid, Jr., on behalf of the Alabama Audubon Council, Alabama Environmental Council, and Alabama Ornithological Society (petitioners), requesting that the snowy plover be listed as threatened or endangered, and that the wintering population of piping plover be reclassified from threatened to endangered under the Act, and that critical habitat be designated under the Act for both species. The full notice is here: http://www.gpo.gov/f.../2011-22900.htm