AUGUSTA (AP) – The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is proposing to loosen rules designed to protect sandpipers, plovers and other migrating coastal birds.

The DEP determined that the coastal birds could still be protected with smaller buffer zones designed to protect them from contact with people.

The DEP has proposed reducing the buffer zone for shoreland birds’ feeding areas from 250 feet to 75 feet.

Lawmakers adopted the original rules to protect shorebird habitat last June, but an angry outcry surfaced as property owners learned of the 250-foot buffer from the high tide line in areas frequented by migrating birds.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection weighed the concerns of both conservationists who wanted strict rules and of property owners and real estate agents who feared an impact on waterfront lots, DEP Commissioner David Littel said Monday.

“We can certainly protect this habitat and allow for reasonable development,” Littel said.

The proposed revision of the law would create separate rules for roosting areas and feeding areas.

The buffer zone would be smaller only for mud flats that serve as feeding areas. A 250-foot buffer would still apply to roosting areas.

In the end, the revision would reduce the amount of regulated area by two-thirds, but it’s still enough to get the job done, Littel said.

“Hopefully it’ll put a stake in the ground and we’ll be able to protect our remaining habit,” he said.

Rep. Theodore Koffman, D-Bar Harbor, will sponsor the legislation.

“The solution we have crafted still provides reasonable protection to Maine’s shorebirds and their habitat,” said Koffman, who serves as co-chair of the Natural Resources Committee along with Sen. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake.

AP-ES-02-05-07 1359EST