Plymouth urged to ban vehicles to aid plovers

But when the threat is a sport utility vehicle, the sparrow-size shorebird is in trouble, conservationists say.

That concern has led wildlife organizations to appeal the town of Plymouth’s beach management plan, which allows off-road vehicles on a 1-mile stretch of Long Beach. At a series of public hearings starting today, they plan to lobby for a vehicle ban to protect the beach’s 23 remaining pairs of piping plovers — a bird listed by the state as a protected species.

“They’ve adapted to predators and storm tides over thousands of years,’’ said Scott Hecker, a coastal water bird specialist and executive director of the Massachusetts-based Goldenrod Foundation, which filed an appeal with the state’s Division of Fisheries and Wildlife in April. “But they have not adapted to large influxes of people in cars.’’

The group’s efforts have been met with much resistance, as beachgoers join to fight what they perceive as an encroachment on their right to enjoy the Plymouth shore.

More than 1,200 have joined a Facebook fan page “Let’s Take Back Plymouth’s Long Beach.’’ And more than 650 signatures have been collected in a separate online petition to keep the town’s current rules, which requires vehicles to stay away from roped-off areas around plover nests.

“We have complied with every restriction,’’ the petition states. “We submit that the current management plan works as it stands, and the residents of Plymouth and their children should be able to continue to enjoy Long Beach.’’

Vehicles are currently not allowed on the beach, as a nest of piping plovers hatched earlier this month near the beach access road.

William Henchy, an Orleans lawyer representing Goldenrod, said the current beach management plan does not comply with the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act prohibiting the “disruption of nesting, breeding, feeding, or migratory activity.’’

“We’re not proposing that the beach be turned into a wilderness area where people can’t go,’’ Henchy said. “But all of the evidence indicates that birds and off-road vehicles simply do not mix.’’

Piping plovers, heavily hunted for their sandy-colored feathers, dwindled to 137 pairs in Massachusetts in 1986.

As a result of aggressive recovery efforts in the early 1990s, their population rose to 500 pairs in 1999 and has since plateaued.

Increased restrictions on vehicle use in habitat areas, Hecker said, could result in another substantial population boom.

“If the appeal is successful, it would be a precedent for greater off-road vehicle restrictions,’’ Hecker said.

Of the 100 sites in Massachusetts where piping plovers nest, roughly 20 allow vehicle use, Hecker said.

At Long Beach, piping plovers forage for the minuscule marine invertebrates living in the muddy tidal flats where vehicles often drive through.

The shorebirds typically arrive in late March and hatch their eggs in late May, when the beach opens for the summer.

Four other species of shorebirds nesting in the Long Beach area — roseate terns, common terns, least terns, and the arctic terns — are listed as endangered or state-designated “special concern’’ species.

For regular beachgoers, the piping plover has inspired emotions ranging from short-lived annoyance to rage — 44 people have joined a “I Hate the Piping Plover’’ Facebook group.

Richard Whelpley, 46, who organized the online petition against stricter beach restrictions, has been going to Long Beach since he was a child.

“I can’t even explain how beautiful that part of the beach is, how good it is for the children,’’ said Whelpley, who lives in Plymouth with his wife and two children.

“If we can’t get out there with our car, there’s no way I could take my kids out there.’’

“We don’t understand why we have to lose all access when we think we’ve complied with everything,’’ Whelpley added.

June Q. Wu can be reached at jwu@globe.com.