Seashore to bolster access to beaches
By Mary Ann Bragg
Staff Writer
June 12, 2007
NORTH TRURO — In an effort to keep beaches open to people while simultaneously protecting nesting shorebirds, three little-used driveways onto the Cape Cod National Seashore's outer beaches may be opened this summer.
The announcement of the new entrance options comes after a series of public meetings and internal Seashore assessments held this winter, said Seashore Superintendent George Price.
The nesting of piping plovers at Race Point Beach in Provincetown means three entrances to the Seashore in that area will likely be closed to vehicular traffic in the next week or two, said Seashore Chief Ranger Steve Prokop.
Four new entrances possible
However, three other entrances in North Truro will now be available for the Seashore to open. Another entrance at Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown is being considered for the future, a park official said.
"The real bottom line here is that we're going to have a half-mile corridor during the height of the plover nesting season, through the summer," Prokop said. "We're not going to have a total closure. We can't guarantee it 100 percent but we're very confident that we'll be able to keep a portion of the corridor open, a minimum of a half-a-mile open throughout the summer."
Federal law requires the Seashore to safeguard endangered species, and by its own mandate the Seashore must protect plovers and least terns, according to Carrie Phillips, the Seashore's chief natural resource officer.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state officials have developed a recovery plan for protecting plovers and other endangered shorebirds.
Striking a balance
But the plan has no end in sight for shorebirds whose populations seem to be on the mend, said Peter Murray of the Massachusetts Beach Buggy Association.
In 1985 there were 19 pairs of plovers counted in the Seashore. In 2002 there were 90 pairs counted in the Seashore's management area on the outer beaches of Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro and Provincetown, Phillips said.
The average in the past three years has been around 70 pairs, Phillips said.
"It's a recovering species," Murraysaid. "The birds have been there for years — it's just getting to the point where there's so many of them they're forcing the humans out."
The now-unused entrance to the Atlantic-side beaches at High Head Beach — one of the three new options — will very likely be ungated in the next few weeks. The other entrances that could be opened are at Head of the Meadow Beach and Coast Guard Beach. These could be used for limited daytime access through June 30, Prokop said.
Recreational fishermen and others who drive the Seashore's outer beaches called the three additional entrances in Truro a step in the right direction, particularly for a large government agency. But they also ask, in regards to protecting shore birds, when enough is enough?
"Based on everything I'm hearing this is the best we're going to get," said Murray.
The eight-mile drivable "corridor" of the Seashore's outer beaches was closed to drivers for 14 days last year, the first time this had been done to protect plover chicks, said Prokop.
All but another 2/10 of a mile of the corridor was closed for an additional 17 days last summer, he said.
Closures' consequences
The closing of the road affected local and out-of-state residents who buy permits to drive onto the beach, as well as business people who earn their income from selling bait, renting cottages to fishermen and the like.
One group of fishing buddies from New York who used to stay at Days' Cottages in North Truro no longer makes the trip north because they think they can't get on the beach, said cottage owner Joe Days. Sales of bait and other fishing supplies are down significantly, Days said.
Each year the Seashore sells about 2,500 one-year permits for driving on the beach,an additional 2,000 weekly permits, and several permits for overnight camping.
The one-year permit costs $150, and the weekly $50, according to Seashore material.
At the Seashore's air pump station at Race Point Beach yesterday, a local resident deflated the tires of his Jeep in preparation for a drive across the beach. He said it is futile to fight government policy, and he wondered why others who seem to have scientific or research connections with the Seashore were allowed to drive on the beach at will. "I fish every moment that I can," he said.
Mary Ann Bragg can be reached at
mbragg@capecodonline.com.
Hybrid Mode
