Groups Intervene to Ensure Piping Plover Survival

The Southern Environmental Law Center, Defenders of Wildlife, and the National Audubon Society stepped in to defend the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s designation of portions of Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge as critical habitat for wintering piping plovers. The piping plover is a federally-listed threatened species that depends on these areas for nesting, migration, and wintering habitat. The Fish & Wildlife Service faces a lawsuit by a consortium of off-road vehicle enthusiast groups and two North Carolina counties seeking to dismiss the designations.