The tip of Leadbetter Point is part of the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge. Nearly 11,000 acres of the refuge have been lost to erosion since 1937. Accreting beaches on Leadbetter Point have provided nesting habitat for the Snowy Plover, an endangered shorebird. Over 330 acres of sand dunes, potential nesting habitat for the Snowy Plover, have disappeared from Cape Shoalwater over the decades.
