Illustration of mountain plovers
Over the last 30 years, mountain plover populations have dropped by more than 50 percent. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that these grassland birds are threatened by sod-busting, routine plowing and prairie dog control on a giant swath of the high plains between Montana and Texas. To protect the species, the agency has proposed to list the killdeer-sized bird as threatened and is accepting comments on the plan until June 21. To learn more, contact Bob Leachman, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 764 Horizon Drive, South Annex A, Grand Junction, CO 81506-3946 (970/243-2778).


This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Mountain plover population.

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