The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated approximately 24,527 acres of coast in Washington, Oregon and California as critical habitat for the Pacific Coast population of the western snowy plover, an endangered species, including 505 new acres at Dillon Beach. The designation includes unique and increasingly rare coastal dune ecosystems along the Pacific Coast considered essential to the survival and recovery of the bird. A total of 47 units of land have been designated in California, nine in Oregon, and four in Washington. In Point Reyes National Seashore, the critical habitat has been expanded at Limantour Beach from 124 acres to 156 acres.