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They should refund your permit fee if they closed the beach. Its definitely not fair to take the money then shut it down.
I do think though that how many people want beach access and how many don't is not a valid argument. Right is right even if only one person stands against the whole country. Wrong is wrong even if everyone is wrong.
I think some sort of regulation is needed , just to keep people from hurting themselves and others. A token fee to insure people get inspected for safety equipment and get given a copy of safety guidelines is OK with me. In fact , I would be in favor of people having to pass a test to get the permit to insure awareness of environmental and safety issues. I'm just not in favor of outrageous fees to generate income for the general fund and to limit acccess to only those with big bucks.
Fishpart brings up an interesting point. Rights of Way. In RI , they don't mark public rights of way. they will spend thousands n no parking signs all up and down a street but not even twenty bucks for a single Public Right of Way sign. We have a special police force to ensure that peole don't trample the dunes or take fish over the limit. We have special patrol cars from some of the towns to ensure you don't access those beaches without a permit. We do not have a single State employee who will list and publish the locations of Public Right of way information to be sure people know where they can legally accesss the shoreline.
My last point is that I'm not worried about my beach and fishing access. I know so many places , I'll never run out in my lifetime. Its the ability of future generations to access the ocean that we need to fight for.
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