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Victor Maccharoli- Snowy Plovers

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Snowy Plover debate reignites

By JOSHUA MOLINA — Feb. 05, 2009

Reigniting the debate over the protection of the Western Snowy Plover, environmentalists are pressuring the city of Goleta to take swift action to protect the threatened shorebird along the Ellwood Mesa Beach.

Only about 1,800 of the diminutive white and tan birds remain on the Pacific Coast and with nesting season near activists are becoming increasingly concerned that Goleta officials have not done enough to protect their habitat.

 Ellwood Mesa Beach is a popular destination for people to let their dogs roam free off their leashes, but dogs are also known to eat plover eggs and disrupt their habitat. Joggers and others are also guilty of unknowingly trampling over nests and eggs.

 “It is important to protect the Pacific Coast population of the Western Snowy Plover,” said Nicole Cerra, president of Shorelines and Watersheds, an environmental nonprofit group. ” Like myself, I don't believe that most people would like to knowingly contribute to the extinction of a species.”

Serra spoke out about the issue at a recent Goleta City Council meeting and authored a letter to City Manager Dan Singer outlining her group’s strong concerns about Goleta’s inability to protect plover habitat.

 “This lack of action by the City of Goleta to protect our local, natural?resources is of grave concern to Shorelines & Watersheds,” Cerra wrote. “Western Snowy Plovers are a sensitive species.  They require undisturbed nesting and wintering areas in order to survive.”

The city of Goleta is in the process of responding to the environmental group’s questions.

 The drama over the plover stretches back more than three years. As part of a complex land swap agreement to preserve Ellwood Mesa from development, the California Coastal Commission granted a coastal development permit in 2005, that required Goleta to take steps to protect the plover habitat. The plover is listed as threatened with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

 Among the requirements were for city to prohibit dogs and horses in some key areas and install permanent signage.

 Singer said that Goleta has taken some steps to protect the plovers, but high costs, opposition from dog owners, and questions about whether plover nesting actually exists along the roughly two-mile stretch of beach within Goleta’s jurisdiction, have slowed the city down.

“We don’t have snowy plovers nesting on our beaches,” he said. “Nesting doesn’t currently exist. Maybe that’s because we have dogs running around. I don’t  know. We don’t exactly have perfect conditions.”

 But the lack of an official habitat management plan is why activists suspect that plovers aren’t obviously nesting in the area. They point to the success of UCSB’s Coal Oil Point Reserve nearby as testimony that a program can work.

 At Coal Oil Point, docents monitor the plover habitat area year-round and the program has become a statewide model for plover preservation and habitat restoration.

 Goleta, however, is still struggling.

“I don’t think we are doing much in the way of enforcement,” said Margaret Connell, a Goleta City Councilwoman, who suggested partnering with Coal Oil Point to increase a presence on the beach.

An attempt to adopt a Western Snowy Plover Habitat Management Plan failed in 2006 because of vocal community opposition from dog owners. The Goleta City Council also cited preliminary estimates that a management plan would cost upwards of $200,000.

“It would require  money that we don’t have,” Singer said.

 Goleta, Singer said, has taken small steps to protect the plover habitat. But it hasn’t been easy.

 Signs were vandalized. People shot through the signs with guns, leaving bullet holes. Others wrote four-letter obscenities on the signs.

“There’s been a real tension that exists in the community,” Singer said.

 Still Goleta has increased trash cleanup on the beach. Garbage attracts skunks and raccoons, which are natural predators of the plover. Park maintenance managers are regularly monitoring the area.

Goleta recently purchased bicycles to allow officers to navigate the area and it plans to increase ticketing if necessary.

 “We are really going to increase our presence there and that will spur people from misbehaving,” Singer said.

 When it comes to increasing protections, Shorelines and Watersheds may have some backup on the Goleta City Council.

Goleta Councilman Ed Easton regularly volunteers as a docent at Coal Oil Point and believes that protecting the shorebird is paramount.

“It’s like giving blood,” Easton said. “When you see these little critters start hatching and running around you know personally you are making a difference, and that feels good.”

 With nesting season going into full-swing in March, Easton and the Goleta City Council may be forced to take some action. Environmentalists and elected officials in the region are taking notice.

 Many, including Cerra of the Shorelines and Watersheds, openly suggest that Goleta’s $200,000 estimate of a management plan is an inflated number. Fencing, docents and some increased oversight would cost much less and still protect plovers

“Two-hundred-thousand dollars would be a limousine management plan, but we don’t need a limousine plan; we need a Prius plan,” said Das Williams, an environmental activist and Santa Barbara City Councilman, who frequently serves as a plover docent at Coal Oil Point.

He said there’s a way for everyone to be happy.

 “People can continue to use the beach, and plovers can nest if there’s an effective management plan,” Williams said.

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needed article : 2/5/2009

Goleta City is starting to address the issue, but eventually the City will get sued for a violation of the Federal Endangered Species Act because the City is allowing "take" to continue on the beach it manages through semi-neglect. Take mean these endangered birds are getting chronically disturbed if not killed. If a private group does not initiate the lawsuit, then an emboldened Federal agency might do its job for a change. Of course, these unmet funding needs are just more reason the City will claim that it needs to prosecute its hostile takeover of the Goleta West Sanitary District funds and property tax revenue.

Charadrius

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More Plover Junk Science : 2/5/2009

The Western Snowy Plover would have been delisted from the ESL if the deep pocket enviro-mental groups hadn't threatened endless litigation. This is an example of using geographical distribution to create the illusion of a "threatened" status. In point of fact, there are colonies to the tune of tens of thousands in Utah and similar numbers spread throughout the U.S. of genetically identical plovers. I applaud the dog owners for fighting the good fight against junk science and extreme environmentalism. .

Truth Police

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plovers : 2/6/2009

what happened to survival of the fittest?? isn't that how the world evolved for millions of years before we started to mess with it??

goletian

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survival of the fittest : 2/6/2009

Survival of the fittest in the short-term, is not the same as persistence of the fittest in the long-term. As an intelligent species, I hope we can learn this difference and aim at the latter. We need also to remember and be thankful that our survival and persistence is completely dependent on other species providing us with food, medicine, and recreation. It is not our right or best interest to drive any species to extinction. This little bird is an opportunity to learn coexistence in our neighborhood

fit to love

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a-hole docents at coal oil point : 3/31/2009

I agree that we should enforce leash laws in that area, but some of the docents are on a real power trip, like they think they are cops. One called UCSB police on me because I left my small bag on the beach while I went surfing. There is legally nothing they can do to you for that, but I complied with what the officer requested, and he said it was fine if I put my stuff near the waterline. I did this, and the cop and the docent walked away. 15min later, the docent comes back and says I can't do that! I argue with him, and he calls the cops again. This time the cop explained to the docent that I was doing nothing they could legally enforce, and to stop calling them for that. Now everytime I go surfing, I bet that same dumb docent will try and mess with me though.

Goleta Local Surfer

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plovers : 7/14/2009

I HATE THE FING PLOVERS! THEY ARE TAKING OVER THE CENTRAL COAST! ENVIRONMENTALIST NEED TO GET A LIFE!

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