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They didn't get fed approval to put terns on the 'protect at all costs' list, did they? Or did I miss that? That is what is holding the beach opening this year. One single tern had a nest at the bottom of the north access at the ranger station (three weeks ago, after most of the north side had opened). Once it hatched, shut it back down - too bad. And as I said to Patrick, the reason that 1/2 of the south beach is shut (2.5+miles) is because that is where the tern colony resides. And if you drive what is open, a substantial part of it has the beach roped off, you can only pass by - because the terns like that little stretch of sand. Can't be bothering the terns, you know. Welcome to MA. Plovers are nothing - there are 50x as many terns. And next will be some other bird that starts nesting on the beach because it is protected. Last year, just because one of the Fish & Wildlife bird freaks thought they saw a royal tern (endangered) they roped off a mile of beach just in case it wanted to come back. What a crock of shi'ite.
The beach may be federal, but they (the National Park Service) are under orders from Washington to honor the requests of the host states - and the state of MA wants the beach for birds, and wants 'birds (to) come first' - that is the exact statement. If you know anyone higher up in the MBBA, ask them. The rangers hate this crap as much as we do - it is the Fish & Wildlife side of the NPS that governs this, and it is full of environmental extremists.
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