Suit Seeks to Remove Bird From Protected List
The city of Morro Bay and a Santa Barbara County citizens group filed suit Tuesday to remove the western snowy plover from the federal list of threatened species, arguing that the decision to protect the coastal bird is based on “junk science.”
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, seeks to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to respond to petitions to strip the snowy plover of its protected status and end restrictions on beaches where it breeds.
The plaintiffs say the federal protections are keeping people off Central California beaches and hurting coastal communities that rely on business from beachgoing tourists.
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