2011 NIPSCO Piper Plover Habitat Q and A | US EPA ARCHIVE DOCUMENT

What are the recovery goals for the piping plover? The recovery goals for the piping plovers breeding in the Great Lakes were outlined in the Recovery Plan for the Great Lakes and Northern Great Plains Piping Plover. [...] The Service may exclude any area from critical habitat if it determines that the benefits of such exclusion outweigh the benefits of specifying the area as part of critical habitat unless it determines, based on the best scientific and commercial data available, that the failure to designate the area as critical habitat will result in the extinction of the species. [...] As a result of the lawsuit, the court has ordered the Service to designate critical habitat for the piping plover in the Great Lakes breeding area by April 30, 2001. [...] How does the final determination differ from the proposal? Based on a review of public comments received on the proposed determination of critical habitat for the Great Lakes breeding population of the piping plover, we re-evaluated our proposed designation of critical habitat for the piping plover. [...] This section allows us to exclude areas upon determination that the benefits of excluding the area outweigh the benefits of including the area in the critical habitat designation, provided the exclusion would not result in the extinction of the species.