BANGOR (AP) – A national wildlife refuge that protects the rocky outcroppings where shorebirds nest across the Gulf of Maine could more than double its island holdings under a proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

A 15-year management plan released Friday envisions increasing the number of islands in the Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge from 46 to 133 and changing the name to the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

The refuge currently protects about 4,000 coastal acres that provide crucial habitat for puffins, ducks, terns and other seabirds in Hancock and Washington counties, said Brian Benedict, deputy manager of the refuge.

Maine has more than 4,600 coastal islands, and many islands once deemed uninhabitable are becoming hot properties.

So the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has, in its plan, proposed a wish list of 87 islands, totaling 153 acres, that the federal government intends to buy.

A dozen years ago, biologists reviewed data about the islands and deemed that 616 have been used by seabirds. Of these, 377 were deemed “nationally significant” – and most of them had already been protected.

The 87 islands listed for acquisition in the plan are the “best of the best,” Benedict said during public hearings last spring.

The federal government has no intention of using eminent domain to take possession of the islands. Rather, the plan calls for buying the properties from willing sellers on the open market over many years, he said.

The federal plan also calls for adding 13 islands to the more restrictive National Wilderness Preservation System.

Since the public debate last spring, federal biologists have decided to exclude shore areas below mean high water from this wilderness designation, to avoid interfering with commercial fishing, Refuge Manager Charlie Blair said Friday.

And six additional islands would be selected for new nesting restoration projects for rare species like puffins and terns.

Comments on the plan will be accepted through Aug. 15 before the document will likely be finalized, officials said.