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I will be at the Chatham High School meeting. As I posted before there are a number of issues here. Morris Island access at night, I believe will not go away. There is a very ardent group of new money landowners that want the access stopped but the real deal is that they can say all they want but the fact remains that the shore around most of the island is US Government Property and there for wildlife based activities not private cocktail parties.
The issues for the Comprehensive Conservation Plan ( which will take three to five years before it is actually enacted) arre primarily human usage versus wildlife use and the needs and concerns are, by the USFWS mission statement, the primary goal. But the mission state,ment also contains text that preserving traditional wildlife based uses such as fishing, shellfishing, hunting and other things like birding etc., must be continued wherever and whenever possible. You cannot hunt on Monomoy proper (dry land) but you can hunt adjacent to the island ( for migratory ducks etc. ) from a boat. You will never ever get the right to hunt on land there back due to the protected species that use it as a breeding colony are many and many of them are borderline as to successfully coming back or not from the edge of disappearing. ( piping plover numbers are way up according to the USFWS and we should be told when they will be taken from the protected list)
There is a study as to the relationship to wildlife based activities on the flats. Being covered by several feet of water at high tide I beleive that for them to try to regulate them as they do the beach to the dunes and all the dry land that makes up the refuge is really grasping at straws and needs to be reinforced as such. This is where input from the user groups involved (read: sportfishermen/shellfishermen) need to get involved more seriously.
On North Monomoy there is a trail or "corridor" that is available for fishermen/birders/day hikkers etc. can traverse across the island. This is something I want to see instituted foir the lower half of the south island. This would give access to shore based fishermen to the surf fishing to be found there. Also I want to see night fishing allowed on the southern half of the south island as well.
When South Monomoy and South beach finally due connect I want to see that the CCP contains some protocol for the use of that new land mass. South Beach is under the control of the National Seashore and Monomoy under the control of the USFWS. Two different Goverment agencies and two different mission statements. We need to make sure that each side understands and supports the use of the beach when this does happen as it surely will.
Remember that all the uses for the refuge are wildlife based uses. Fishing depends on fish. Sunbathing/swimming/jet skiing and para sailing are not a wildlife based use.
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