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Please Support Protections for Shorebird and Wading Bird Habitat

Maine rules protecting important coastal habitats for shorebirds and wading birds have been in the making for decades but are just coming into effect and are not well understood. In fact, some Maine residents are objecting to them.

Because these fragile habitats (including mud flats and wetlands where birds nest and feed) are vulnerable to disturbance, development, and environmental contaminants, the rules require a permit to develop in or near those areas. The permit will ask that the development occur 250' away from the habitat when possible. When this isn't possible, the landowner will be asked to minimize impacts. If the lot is already developed, an expedited permit will be available with limited standards.

The rules are reasonable and protect the last remaining feeding and resting areas for migratory shorebirds as they travel from the Arctic circle to as far away as Chile where they spend the winter.

Some of these places, like around Harrington and Addison, are nationally significant to shorebirds. In the 1980s, the coastal zone from Trenton Bay east to Perry was identified as probably the most important fall migratory stopover area in the eastern U.S. for four species of shorebirds (semipalmated sandpipiers, semipalmated plovers, white-rumped sandpipers and whimbrels). Shorebirds are declining and once these places are gone, there will be no where else for the birds to go and we risk losing them altogether.

Shorebirds and wading birds desperately need this habitat, but we need it, too—not only to maintain our quality of life, but also to keep drawing the visitors who bring millions of dollars to Maine each year. It is extremely important that Governor John Baldacci and your legislators know that there is strong public support for protecting these special habitats.

YOU CAN HELP

1. Please thank Governor John Baldacci for his strong support of the rules.

Governor John Baldacci: governor@maine.gov (207) 287-3531/ (207) 287-6548 (TTY) / (207) 287-1034 (FAX)

2. Contact your legislators today. The key message lawmakers must hear from you is that the rule is important, supported by science, and reasonable.

Your Legislators: for e-mail addresses and home contact info, please visit www.maine.gov or email activist@maineaudubon.org with your name and address.

Want to do more?

Help build support for the rules; send a letter to the editor of your local paper today.

Again, the key message is that the rule is important, supported by science, and reasonable.

Media: follow these links to media contact info and tips for writing effective letters.

Background

“Significant wildlife habitat” is protected under Maine’s Natural Resources Protection Act. It includes a variety of wildlife habitat that provides food, shelter, and, in some cases, breeding areas, for endangered and threatened species, waterfowl and wading birds, seabirds and shorebirds, and small amphibians crucial to forest ecology and dependent on vernal pools (small wetlands).

TIMELINE

• Spring 2005, the Maine Legislature directed the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (DIFW) and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to adopt rules that provide definitions and development standards for several significant wildlife habitats including significant vernal pools, high and moderate waterfowl and wading bird habitat and shorebird nesting, feeding, and staging areas.

• Fall 2005, the Board of Environmental Protection and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s Advisory Council held public hearings on their proposed rules.

• Spring 2006, the Maine Legislature, after holding public hearings and multiple work sessions, modified the rules to increase their user-friendliness and endorsed the rules.

• Summer 2006, the rules for high and moderate waterfowl and wading bird habitat and high and moderate value shorebird nesting, feeding and staging areas went into effect.

The rule is important:

• Maine is blessed with a tremendously rich intertidal resource whose richness is virtually invisible to most of us. Shorebirds have been dependant on this resource for thousands of years. Roosting areas are traditional resting areas in close proximity to feeding areas that allow birds to sleep and take care of their feathers (preen) without disturbance during high tides when foraging is not possible. These areas are critical if they are to acquire the large fat reserves needed to fuel their transoceanic flight (Bahamas to Brazil and for some Uruguay, Argentina & Chile).

Research in Maine indicated that one species of shorebird (semipalmated plover) nearly doubled its body weight to get ready for migration. Shorebirds may even select a single species of “invertebrate” gorging themselves by eating up to 23,000 individuals in a single tidal cycle. Different species of shorebirds have different bill characteristics which results in a sort of segregation of their feeding grounds to limit competition.

Shorebirds generally stay 2-3 weeks in the fall on coastal staging areas, feeding, resting to accumulate the fat reserves for crossing the ocean going as far as Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. Typically, shorebirds stay in Maine’s staging areas for 10-20 days.

There is one shorebird that deserves special distinction: the Purple Sandpiper is the only shorebird to winter in Maine. It is estimated that Maine’s coast winters almost half of the entire world population of Purple Sandpipers. These birds choose to stay in Maine, while most of their “cousins” fly to central and South America.

• Human populations in coastal communities have increased dramatically. In Maine, a Department of Economic and Community Development report estimated a 40% increase in population in coastal communities since 1978. Shorebirds are extremely susceptible to disturbance and will abandon roosting and feeding site that have even moderate levels of human activity.

We must be able to assure that these few intertidal areas and the associated upland habitats are not degraded or abandoned by the shorebirds that rely on these sites for their very survival. Unabated development or siting of our public access facilities without considering these sites would be like shutting down the grocery stores as well as their gas stations of migratory shorebirds since these birds are self propelled and need these critical staging areas to successfully migrate.

• Significant habitat for Maine’s waterfowl (including wild ducks, geese, and swans) and wading birds (including herons and glossy ibis) provides stable water levels year round and supports numerous plant and wildlife species not found elsewhere.

The rule is reasonable:

• During the review of activities within the 250 feet, the DEP will apply all standards for avoidance and minimization in a manner identical to that currently used to protect natural resources. Each activity is examined on a case-by-case basis, and DEP division staff will work with individuals toward a reasonable solution to any habitat and land use conflicts.

• The permit will ask that the development occur 250' away from the habitat when possible. When this isn't possible, the landowner will be asked to minimize impacts. If the lot is already developed, an expedited permit will be available with limited standards.

 

The rule is supported by science:

• DEP consulted with wetland and wildlife professionals during the rule development. These professionals confirmed that the proposed criteria was not only feasible, but also consistent with standard professional practice.

• High and moderate value shorebird feeding and staging areas have been identified by DIFW based on specific criteria and developed over decades. Using standardized, scientifically sound methods of inventorying and monitoring shorebirds populations, DIFW initiated regional surveys in 1981. Surveys were completed for the entire coast in 1991 using aerial and ground surveys. This information along with census data from USFWS has been mapped, entered into the DIFW database, and was updated in 1993, keying in on areas identified from the previous regional surveys.

• DIFW has used a conservative measure of at least 10% of the entire population (as measured using total mean) or 10% of a single species surveyed within each shorebird survey unit. There are 222 sites used by shorebirds for both roosting and feeding; 34 sites used for roosting only and 29 feeding-only sites and all are intertidal. Many of these sites are very small (.004 acres), with the largest one less than 750 acres of intertidal area. Maine has 3500 miles of shoreline with only 78 miles of sandy beach which is one of the preferred habitats utilized by large flocks of migratory shorebirds.

• Excerpts from the DIFW report: Migratory Shorebird Assessment, revised April 2000.

1. Roosting areas are traditional resting areas in close proximity to feeding areas that allow birds to sleep and take care of their feathers (preen) without disturbance during high tides when foraging is not possible. These areas are critical if they are to acquire the large fat reserves needed to fuel their transoceanic flight (Bahamas to Brazil and for some Uruguay, Argentina & Chile).

2. During the 1980’s the coastal zone from Trenton Bay east to Perry was identified as probably the most important fall migratory stopover area in the eastern U.S. for four species of shorebirds (semipalmated sandpipers, semipalmated plovers, white-rumped sandpipers and whimbrels).

3. In the 1980’s the largest known semipalmated sandpiper and semipalmated plover roost in the eastern U.S. was in Wards Cove, off Ripley Neck in Harrington (40,000 semi sandpipers and 2400 semi plovers).

4. Recent surveys suggest over 21,000 shorebirds continue to use the Harrington – Addison mudflats for feeding and have established approximately 8 different roost sites.

5. The Harrington – Addison region qualifies as a “Regional Shorebird Reserve” within the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Network of Shorebirds Staging Areas.

6. Invertebrate densities (shorebird food) in these areas are some of the highest recorded (e.g. Machias Bay: 2,600 to 83,000 invertebrates/ meter sq.) and are higher than in the Bay of Fundy.

7. Disturbance and development has dramatically affected use of roost sites by shorebirds in Maine (e.g. Johnson Cove in Eastport – salmon pens and support activities including parking on the beach, transporting feed etc. within former roost site).