The 170 kilometers (km) of the Platte River from the Loup River junction to its mouth (the Lower Platte River) have historically been nesting areas for the endangered interior least tern (Sternula antillarum) and threatened piping plover (Charadrius melodus) (Lingle, 1993; Lott, 2006). The riverine habitats these shore and seabirds utilize for nesting, foraging, and rearing on the Lower Platte River include sparsely vegetated channel sandbars, sand and gravel beaches on islands, temporary pools on sandbars and islands, and river shorelines (Ziewitz and others, 1992; Lingle, 1993; Kirsch, 1996).