Cancelled Concerts Will Help Protect Piping Plover

The discovery of a nest for the federally protected Piping Plover shorebird near the site of the upcoming Sandy Hook Summer Concert Series has prompted cancellation of the concerts. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said regulations ban any activity within 1,000 meters of the endangered birds’ nests.

“Piping Plovers are a very unique, endangered species and they have to be protected. Cancelling the Sandy Hook Concert Series will help assure that Piping Plover nests at Sandy Hook will not be damaged. The concerts would bring in lots of people who could trample on the nests. The noise also scares the birds and can disrupt the nesting. The National Park Service and the Sandy Hook Foundation made the right call by cancelling the concerts,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “They should have looked in the area before deciding to have the concerts there. If the Piping Plovers are there now, they were most likely there last year as well.”

Piping Plovers typically live on Sandy Hook for a few months a year before moving on. Sandy Hook has produced 40-50 percent of the birds in New Jersey each year. Officials say the noise from the concerts would be particularly disruptive to the birds. There are fewer than 3,000 nesting pairs of Piping Plovers along the Atlantic Coast.

“Piping Plovers are protected by the Endangered Species Act, and the National Park Service is doing its job by stopping the concerts. Sandy Hook is a critical nesting place for Piping Plovers, typically producing close to half of the bird’s nesting pairs in the state. More than 20 nests have been built on Sandy Hook’s beaches this year. There are fewer than 3,000 nesting pairs of Piping Plovers along the entire Atlantic coast. We need to protect this endangered bird’s nests wherever they are found,” said Tittel.

A Piping Plover nest was discovered on Sandy Hook’s Beach E last week. That’s the same area used by the Sandy Hook Foundation for the summer concerts. The Foundation was unable to find a suitable alternative site for the concert series. The park service estimates more than 20 Piping Plover nests on Sandy Hook this year.

“Protecting our endangered species is especially important as climate change threatens more of them with extinction. Scientists estimate that dozens of species are becoming extinct every day. The Endangered Species Act became law in 1973 and it was one of the most important environmental acts of the 1970s. The law has worked. Since then, 54 species have been removed from the endangered list. Another 21 have improved from endangered to threatened. The Piping Plover needs special protections, and cancelling the concert series will help preserve the future of these special shorebirds,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “They can move the concerts to other parts of the park or other locations. The Piping Plover nests need to be protected.”