The State of Massachusetts has approved a plan adopted by the Town of Plymouth to manage public uses on Plymouth Long Beach to protect piping plovers, a threatened species, and other shorebirds that nest and breed on the beach each spring, said Richard O. Bennett, Ph.D., Acting Northeast Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
According to Bennett, the Service, satisfied with the piping plover protection measures included in the plan, has dismissed a $12,000 civil penalty under the Endangered Species Act that has been held in abeyance against the town since 1998.
"Since 1998, town officials have demonstrated their commitment to protecting piping plover nests and chicks from human harm on Plymouth Long Beach," said Bennett. "Now that formal beach management guidelines are in place, we are confident that the town will continue to do its best to conserve this threatened shorebird."
Shorebird protection measures included in the plan include restricting and managing off-road vehicle access and other recreational activities near nesting areas on the beach from April 1 to Sept. 15. Piping plover and tern nesting areas are well marked with signs and fencing, nests are protected from predators, and personnel are hired annually to monitor the nests and activities on the beach.
In 1996, a piping plover chick was crushed by an off-road vehicle on Plymouth Long Beach before the town restricted access for the nesting season that spring. Ongoing concern about the safety of piping plovers on the beach prompted the Service to take legal action against the town in 1998. Federal attorneys fined the town $12,000 for the death of the chick, a violation of the Endangered Species Act, and the U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, supported the Service
