It’s not an everyday occurrence when someone is able to watch five members of an endangered species from a few feet away, but that is just what Leelanau students were able to do this spring. For the 17th year, Leelanau students in the Environmental Science and Chemistry classes worked with the National Park Service at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to help protect the small population of Piping Plover, a small shorebird, whose Great Lakes population was placed on the Endangered Species List in 1986.

Students worked to install “Psychological Fencing” around the Piping Plover nesting areas.  Psychological in that the fencing consists of signage, posts, and orange twine and can only protect the birds if people choose to keep themselves and their dogs out of the nesting areas, which is critical for population recovery.

In the time Leelanau has been involved with the Piping Plover Project the Plover population has almost doubled from just fewer than 40 breeding pairs to nearly 80 last year!  Some of the birds are nesting in different areas based on water levels, so fencing was placed in a new location this year – just down the road from the School in Historic Glen Haven.

The opportunity for students to be so closely involved with an Endangered Species Program is a fantastic opportunity for experiential and service learning. To learn more about the Piping Plover or how to get involved with Endangered Species Recovery visit U. S. Fish and Wildlife.

 

 

Trackback from your site.