Provide optimal breeding habitat to maintain and increase priority species populations in the planning region. Provide high-quality managed habitat to support successful migration through and over wintering within the planning region. Maintain disturbance frequencies at breeding, foraging, and roost sites to below the tolerance levels for successful reproduction or for maintaining fat stores needed for migration. Work closely with beach managers and communities (including sea turtle monitoring crews) and educate them on ways to minimize plover nest disturbance and to avoid running over plover chicks where use of vehicles is allowed on beaches. Provide specific guidance for both private and public land managers to closely match peak shorebird habitat needs in their respective areas (e.g., to slow the timing of spring draw-downs and build in habitat recommendations involving teal considerations in autumn). Provide cooperating private landowners with proper incentives to delay planting for about a month. Assess individual managers’ current contributions as well as their capacities to help achieve habitat objectives outlined in this report, including the potential to close beaches where excessive public use is shown to be detrimental to important nesting habitat. When renourishment projects are necessary, work with communities, state, and federal agencies on the timing and design of the project to minimize disturbance and impacts on shorebird food base. Maintain washovers, sandflats, and mudflats, especially on barrier islands created by hurricanes; that is, do not immediately attempt to hurricane-created habitat. “repairs” Work with appropriate fishery councils and organizations to reduce, or if necessary eliminate, fisheries harvesting horseshoe crabs either directly or through bycatch. Work with all interested parties to improve both and quality of freshwater inputs into estuarine systems. Population Objectives While statewide population objectives for some species can be found in FWC’s Species Action Plans (FWC 2013i), only a few of these species occur solely within BCR 31, so population objectives are assessed at a statewide scale (Table 16). Most priority bird species do not have a
Provide optimal breeding habitat to maintain and increase priority species populations in the planning region. Provide high-quality managed habitat to support successful migration through and over wintering within the planning region. Maintain disturbance frequencies at breeding, foraging, and roost sites to below the tolerance levels for successful reproduction or for maintaining fat stores needed for migration. Work closely with beach managers and communities (including sea turtle monitoring crews) and educate them on ways to minimize plover nest disturbance and to avoid running over plover chicks where use of vehicles is allowed on beaches. Provide specific guidance for both private and public land managers to closely match peak shorebird habitat needs in their respective areas (e.g., to slow the timing of spring draw-downs and build in habitat recommendations involving teal considerations in autumn). Provide cooperating private landowners with proper incentives to delay planting for about a month. Assess individual managers’ current contributions as well as their capacities to help achieve habitat objectives outlined in this report, including the potential to close beaches where excessive public use is shown to be detrimental to important nesting habitat. When renourishment projects are necessary, work with communities, state, and federal agencies on the timing and design of the project to minimize disturbance and impacts on shorebird food base. Maintain washovers, sandflats, and mudflats, especially on barrier islands created by hurricanes; that is, do not immediately attempt “repairs” to hurricane-created habitat. Work with appropriate fishery councils and organizations to reduce, or if necessary eliminate, fisheries harvesting horseshoe crabs either directly or through bycatch. Work with all interested parties to improve both and quality of freshwater inputs into estuarine systems. Population Objectives While statewide population objectives for some species can be found in FWC’s Species Action Plans (FWC 2013i), only a few of these species occur solely within BCR 31, so population objectives are assessed at a statewide scale (Table 16). Most priority bird species do not have a