Colorado Farm Bureau president Alan Foutz, testifying before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Water July 15, 2005, related the remarkable story of farmers and ranchers working cooperatively with government to recover the mountain plover. In 1999, this small shorebird, found in the western Great Plains, faced being listed as an endangered species. At that time, limited scientific information was available on the species. Facing severe effects on their livelihoods, landowners recognized the need for more scientific information. Mr. Foutz testified that the Colorado Farm Bureau entered into an agreement with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Fish and Wildlife Service, Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory and the Nature Conservancy to open their lands to inventory and study of mountain plovers. The result, he explained, was a three-year study of movements, locations and nesting behavior of mountain plovers on agricultural lands. Colorado Farm Bureau members provided access to more than 300,000 acres of their private lands for the study. Participation was strictly voluntary. Farm Bureau members permitted access to their lands contributed their time as field volunteers to the research effort.

Mr. Foutz indicated that: 

Some of the results were surprising. Researchers found that rather than destroying habitat, agricultural activity actually provided important nesting habitat for the species, and many of the agricultural practices that would have been restricted under an ESA listing were actually beneficial for the plovers. One aspect of the study found higher nesting success on cultivated agricultural lands than on native rangelands. Mountain plovers were still at risk from farm machinery plowing inhabited fields. Farmers are more than willing to avoid nests, but they often cannot see nests while operating large machinery. To remedy that situation, the Farm Bureau and the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory developed a unique program to allow farmers to call a toll-free number 72 hours before plowing. The Observatory would send someone to survey the field and flag plover nests, allowing farmers to avoid flagged nests.  

Fact: The mountain plover success story would not have been a success if the plover has already been listed. As Mr. Foutz explained:  

This solution would not have been available to us if the mountain plover had already been listed. Under the ESA, once a species is listed, Section 9 – taking prohibitions – and Section 7 – consultation requirements – impose restrictions that stifle the kind of creative solutions that we employed to assist the mountain plover. Furthermore, had the mountain plover already been listed, we would not have been able to develop the scientific knowledge about the plover that could guide in its recovery. The same stereotype about agricultural lands encroaching on plover habitat would have been perpetuated upon listing, to the detriment of farmers and plovers alike.

The mountain plover success story in Colorado demonstrates the need for modernizing the Endangered Species Act. This success underscores the importance of cooperation between landowners and government and the need for improved science. Landowners, conservation groups, and government agencies worked together in the best interests of the mountain plover, and in doing so, demonstrated ways in which aspects of the current law can be improved.