Court upholds critical habitat designations for piping plover at Cape Hatteras NS
In an opinion that goes against off-road vehicle interests along Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, a federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service properly designated critical winter habitat for the piping plover, a threatened species of shorebirds.
Judge Royce C. Lamberth, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, held that the Fish and Wildlife Service properly considered economic impacts, special management considerations, and off-road vehicle regulations when it set aside 2,053 acres in North Carolina's Dare and Hyde counties -- including parts of Cape Hatteras National Seashore -- as critical habitat for the diminutive shorebirds.
The ruling handed down Tuesday was applauded by conservation groups.