<p>Cape Pogue Wildlife Refuge and other barrier beaches will be closed to over-sand vehicles starting next week.</p>
With the arrival of nesting shorebirds, Cape Pogue Wildlife Refuge and most of the other barrier beaches on Chappaquiddick will be closed to over-sand vehicles starting next week.
Red areas on map indicate areas closed to vehicles as of June 7. Green areas will remain open.
Red areas on map indicate areas closed to vehicles as of June 7. Green areas will remain open.
All of Cape Pogue will be closed north of the Dike Bridge on Chappy starting June 2, Trustees of Reservations Vineyard stewardship manager Chris Kennedy told the Gazette Tuesday. The southern half of Leland Beach just south of the Dike Bridge will close on June 6.
Most of Norton Point Beach will be closed beginning June 7. Mr. Kennedy said about a quarter mile of beach at the Edgartown entrance will remain open to over-sand vehicles. Pedestrians are still allowed in all areas, though dogs are not.
Restrictions are required under state and federal law when endangered shorebirds are present. Piping plovers, terns, skimmers and oystercatchers arrive in the late spring and early summer to hatch and raise chicks.
Mr. Kennedy said eight pairs of piping plovers are nesting from the left fork to the Cape Pogue gut, with another four pairs looking for nest sites. The chicks are expected to hatch within 10 days of each other. Given the time it takes for chicks to gain enough weight to fly, Mr. Kennedy said the beaches will likely start reopening the first week of July, but that date could be pushed back if the nests are predated or destroyed by storms.
Up-to-date information about beach restrictions will be available through a 24-hour recorded hotline at 508-627-8390 for Chappaquiddick and 774-310-1110 for Norton Point.
The perennial beach closures have been controversial among fishermen and others who want to drive on the remote beaches by vehicle. At a meeting last summer Vineyard fishermen said frustration was brimming over the repeated closures.
Mr. Kennedy said he understood the concerns. “We feel people’s pain,” he said. He noted that the nesting season started about two weeks early this year, which could mean vehicle access starting two weeks earlier later in the summer.
“We’re doing this because it’s the law,” he said. “The law says you must close to protect these threatened shorebirds. And it’s the right thing to do.”
All areas will be open for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, with good weather in the forecast.
“It’s a great opportunity to get out, enjoy the weather, enjoy the weekend,” Mr. Kennedy said. “And then next week we begin the annual rite of shorebird closures.”
Comments
95% of Chappy is closed to
John Gault Oak Bluffs95% of Chappy is closed to vehicles BUT you can carry all your supplies and to use and 'Mr. Kennedy said the beaches will likely start reopening the first week of July, but that date could be pushed back if the nests are predated or destroyed by storm,"Ya last year it wasn't opened till after the summer season was almost over. Why would any rational person buy a sticker they can't use. And NORTON POINT is cheek to cheek, butt to butt where some forget there are young children.
And your solution would be to
Bob OBAnd your solution would be to flout federal law? Kennedy said the birds were nesting 2 weeks earlier than last year, so take that as good news. The use ofTrustee land is a privilege, not a right. We're lucky to have it. My sticker for the new season is already on my jeep. It's a beautiful property I use year round, and a bargain at that.
Well said Bob. Couldn't
Steve EdgartownWell said Bob. Couldn't agree more. We all need to do all we can to protect this spectacular beach.
I never know when the beach
A couple hundred bucks poorer MVI never know when the beach will be closed for the plovers but I have a pretty good guess within a few weeks. I never know how long it will last but I have a pretty good guess, within a few weeks. This year the birds were early and the fish a tad late. As a fisherman, and not a sunbather or group beach bbq type it wasn't ideal for me. Last year it wasn't great for anyone but better for me than the bbq crowd. Some years I get two months of beach driving and fishing, just in the spring! It takes me a few days to earn my pass given my modest wage, but I am thankful I can still afford my old four by four and my old rods and new line and the pass. I don't spend my limited money on going out to eat or travel. And I share this beach with others who want to swim and drink beers and party, and also plovers and bird lovers and people who can't stand the idea of people like me spoiling nature with a truck. I try try my best to get along with all viewpoints, appreciate my critics and their needs, and don't complain. If I thought the other interests were not compromising too, I would defend my rights with passion and show up at every hearing and meeting and try to coordinate with my peers to win in court. But I don't feel that way. After the closures I will have fall fishing, then scalloping, then amazing trips I could never do on foot with my old dog and be alone on miles of beach. Less than three hundred bucks? Thanks trustees, and thanks bird fans and bbq people for sharing so well. That is why I, as a somewhat rational person buy my sticker. Because I can and do use it.
The closings seem to be
Virgil Starkwell NomanslandThe closings seem to be wildly disporportionate to the risk to the chicks, as well as to the land area that they cover while maturing. It's excessive and it's overkill. Where is Ryan Zinke when you need him?
The world needs LESS people
Christine Miller LivingstonThe world needs LESS people like you!
What a pathetic comment.If
ECS Edgartown / FLLWhat a pathetic comment.If the plovers are dependent on this tiny little bit of sand much of which get flooded again during the hatching season killing most of the eggs before they hatch then the birds are already doomed to extinction, like 99.9% of the species which have inhabited this strange rock. A more intelligence expenditure of you energy would be to push for much greater limits to vehicles [in favor of boat access which is far less intrusive, including even the drunks the boats too often bring]. The biggest problem is there are way too many people on this rock to start with.
No Beach stickers for me this
William EdgNo Beach stickers for me this year.
This is Nothing but a scam to
Chip Cooper WesterlyThis is Nothing but a scam to keep 4x4 vehicle seasonal drivers off the trails. I have been fishing these waters for years and have never seen such bureaucratic environmental activists so rampant. Cant’t fight city hall you have won. No pass for me either this year.
We all want to comply with
Robert Cohn ConnecticutWe all want to comply with the law- but the new policy by the Trustees this year that has never been implemented before is not the law. I am not a legal expert in Piper plover management but I know how to legal research. I have a big problem with closing OSV access before the eggs have hatched. I admit that I did not read all 176 pages- single spaced- of the following plan that governs the Trustees in managing Plover take. It is clear that access is "permitted ...prior to the egg hatching." That seems pretty clear to me. The arbitrary announced closing of Cape Poge on June 3rd regardless of whether any eggs have actually hatched is an abuse and is actually contrary to the current plan. The plan intends to be more reasonable and this decision of the Trustees is not required under the Plan and only appliers to chicks once they hatched providing that the nests are far enough away from sand trials- which they are. MASSACHUSETTS DIVISION OF FISHERIES & WILDLIFE (DFW)
HABITAT CONSERVATION PLAN FOR
PIPING PLOVER. June 2016 "Use in the Vicinity of Unfledged Piping Plover Chicks. According to the Guidelines, OSV use is permitted, subject to certain limitations, prior to egg hatching and after chick fledging.7 Under the Plan, escorted OSVs will be permitted to drive past a limited number of unfledged piping plover broods subject to impact minimization procedures to reduce the risk of chick mortality (see Chapter 3). I have sent emails to Chris Kennedy and no reply. Maybe we should try to go back to the way it always was- wait until the checks hatch and see where they wander.
Actually the restrictions
ECS Edgartown / FLLActually the restrictions seem much less restrictive than last year - no pedestrian restrictions mentioned herein though I am sure we will be limited to areas close to the water, no boat access restrictions which were contemplated both of which is as it should be and should meet statutory requires and if not they should be revised along these lines. To me it sounds as if emails such as the one I, and no doubt many others, wrote Mr. K have not fallen on deaf ears. Now we will see how the enforcement goes.
I will add specifically to your comment that OSV are a disaster even without the PP considerations.
An annual surf fishing trip
David Collins West Haven, CtAn annual surf fishing trip for a large group (10-12 usually) is slowly dwindling away because of these closures. Thousands of dollars in cash will most likely be lost to the Island coffers next year. There is no reason to bother to buy a beach permit for the spring run on Chappy anymore. These closures also put more pressure on the already fragile mess that is Wasque. We had been told that compromises by the Federal and State governments were in the works, it seems that never came to fruition.
I like Mr Cohn’s Analysis..
Jeff Bastable Fayetteville, NYI like Mr Cohn’s Analysis.. good job. We await Mr Kennedy’s response as well.
With all due respect for the plovers, In 37 summers I do not recall such a heightened attention to closures of Chappy beaches for the birds...Last summer was most disappointing with significant beach closures for a prolonged period. Seems as though we have a canon being used where a fly swater would do the job. Full closures? No exceptions? Or selective restrictions? How can the balance be established?
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