Western Snowy Plovers Return

Western snowy plovers, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, have nested on the south spit of Nehalem Bay State Park in Oregon for perhaps the first time in 30 years, prompting restrictions on use of the area.

From now until the end of the nesting season, September 15, all activities will be prohibited on the dry sand for two miles south of the park’s day use area. People will be able to walk and ride horses on the wet sand south of the day use area, but dogs and bicycles will be banned. The three miles of beach north of the day use area will remain open.

Vanessa Blackstone, the Oregon Parks and Recreation wildlife biologist who discovered the nest April 3, said, “This is the first time in 30 years we have a confirmed nest here, and supports all the hard work Oregonians have done to help this species survive.”