(DENVER) -- Interior Secretary Gale Norton today announced a new agreement with the State of Colorado to promote the conservation of mountain plovers on agricultural lands while providing assurances to farmers and ranchers that they will not be prosecuted for inadvertently violating a federal law protecting the birds.
Mountain plovers are high prairie birds that nest in open areas such as farm and ranch fields. Under a Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Colorado Department of Natural Resources (CDNR), participating farmers and ranchers agree to notify the state at least 72 hours before tilling their fields, allowing biologists to survey and flag plover nests.
Farmers and ranchers also agree to till around the nests while gaining assurances they will not be prosecuted by the Department of Justice under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which strictly protects all migratory birds, if they accidently harm a bird.
"This agreement is a classic example of the kind of win-win partnership that is essential to successful conservation of our wildlife and its habitat," Norton said. "Freed from concerns that mountain plovers might delay or prevent them from tilling their fields, farmers and ranchers have become full partners in conserving this species while still producing food for America
