Free Crane

[BasicPatrick]

We loose because we post complaints to ourselves instead of calling or writing an e-mail to our local state and federal elected officials demanding access be preserved!!!!

We loose because the membership of MA Striped Bass & Mass Beach Buggy is down significantly and they are the only two organization in MA that show up and are working to find solutions.

We loose because between political struggles the enviros are raising money to maintain their influence and as a community we raise nothing for political aciton.

We loose because we can not afford to take the economic loss we THINK is going on and document it according to the science of economics so that it can be used in the next round of political action.

We loose because we are talking about this now because of a crane when truth is that beach has been closed for birds since MAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Plum Crazy]

I enjoyed this article
Op-Ed ; Imperiled Species is Working Crane
Tuesday, July 21, 2009 6:56 PM

[B](Source: Boston Herald)By MICHAEL GRAHAM[M[ Anybody know a good recipe for piping plover?
If you do, please forward it to Mike Winkler, currently stranded along North Beach in Chatham. He needs your help - and so does the entire Massachusetts economy.
Winkler is a crane operator. After an unusually late Nor'easter ravaged Chatham's North Beach area a month ago, he got the call to bring in his big crane and demolish/remove/relocate some of the cottages in danger of washing away.
Two weeks later, around July 9, Winkler was done and ready to move on to his next job. But the town of Orleans and the Patrick administration won't let him, because in the midst of the worst economic downturn in a generation, these bureaucrats are more worried about killing a bird than saving some jobs.
There are four piping plover chicks nesting near the crane's path off the beach. Orleans is terrified that the crane "might run over a bird," Selectman Jon Fuller told the Cape Cod Times. The possible death of one bird - one - is enough to stop Winkler and his crane.
"They are messing with my livelihood," Winkler complained. "We finally have some work and we can't do it."
Which is why it's time for some hearty patriot - or a competent economist - to throw the Weber grill in the trunk and head to North Beach. Nothing says "recovery" like a fresh plover grilled over a beach fire. A little lime juice and as the French say. (And according to several sources, the French do eat plovers. Then again, they're French. They eat anything.)
And who in Massachusetts has time to worry about your livelihood, Mr. Winkler, when there are piping plovers to protect? Certainly not the Patrick administration, whose Division of Fisheries and Wildlife refused to give permission in the first place.
Orleans asked the state to allow an escort of bird lovers to carefully guide the crane past the nesting area and off the beach. That wasn't good enough.
What if the birds were frightened? Traumatized? Do you have any idea how expensive avian psychotherapy is these days?
The town rejected another route floated by the state. And so the work stops. The crane sits idle. Men wait for work while income - and income taxes - are lost. In the middle of a recession, with Bay State unemployment at a 17-year high.
Get used to it. Because this is the Obama/Patrick roadmap for economic (ahem) "recovery."
Winkler told the Cape Cod Times that he doesn't understand "what world" these pols live in when they endanger his livelihood and his business. I'll tell you.
It's a world where governors and legislatures raise taxes by a billion dollars in the middle of a recession to fund goofy programs for weighing kids at school and workplace gym classes.
It's a world where, despite losing 7.2 million jobs since the recession started, the president takes trillions from businesses to fight "global warming" and fund a takeover of health care.
It's a world where punishing the rich with a job-killing surtax is more important than common sense tax cuts that would promote real job growth.
In short, it's a world where protecting piping plovers is still more important that protecting jobs.
I'm with you, Mike. I'd happily roll a bucketful of the birds in 11 herbs and spices and hand them out to the homeless. But this isn't our world. We're just livin' in it.
Michael Graham hosts a talk show on 96.9 WTKK.
(c) 2009 Boston Herald. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.
A service of YellowBrix, Inc. ed

[Raven]

it's the PLOVERS world

eye chee wa wa

[Plum Crazy]

The U.S. F & W has since given him permission to move the crane.
I thought the article was tongue in cheek funny. I do not condone anyone going out there and grilling up plovers.
It wouldn't help anyway, the terns are there too.

[TheSurfcaster]

Originally Posted by BasicPatrick

We loose because we post complaints to ourselves instead of calling or writing an e-mail to our local state and federal elected officials demanding access be preserved!!!!

We loose because the membership of MA Striped Bass & Mass Beach Buggy is down significantly and they are the only two organization in MA that show up and are working to find solutions.

We loose because between political struggles the enviros are raising money to maintain their influence and as a community we raise nothing for political aciton.

We loose because we can not afford to take the economic loss we THINK is going on and document it according to the science of economics so that it can be used in the next round of political action.

We loose because we are talking about this now because of a crane when truth is that beach has been closed for birds since MAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Patrick,

This is so true - if only more of the complaints could be funneled in the proper direction we wouldn't be having this discussion.

[gone fishin]

Originally Posted by BasicPatrick

We loose because we post complaints to ourselves instead of calling or writing an e-mail to our local state and federal elected officials demanding access be preserved!!!!

We loose because the membership of MA Striped Bass & Mass Beach Buggy is down significantly and they are the only two organization in MA that show up and are working to find solutions.

We loose because between political struggles the enviros are raising money to maintain their influence and as a community we raise nothing for political aciton.

We loose because we can not afford to take the economic loss we THINK is going on and document it according to the science of economics so that it can be used in the next round of political action.

We loose because we are talking about this now because of a crane when truth is that beach has been closed for birds since MAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How true Patrick!

It's amazing how the crane thing has taken on a life of its own. Especially when you and others call for a letter or simple participation to let our voice be heard in the political arena regarding access and the response is nill or little!

[Karl F]

Crane coming off North Beach
By Susan Milton
smilton@capecodonline.com
July 22, 2009ORLEANS — A crane, stuck on North Beach for days, is due home this morning after a change of heart by selectmen and state officials.

Early today, owner Mike Winkler is set to move his crane and excavator, under the watchful eye of an escort, past nesting least terns and piping plover chicks in Orleans.

Selectmen last week forbade Winkler from moving his $800,000 crane and an excavator until after the protected shorebirds had finished nesting and flown away. In late June, Winkler got emergency approval from Chatham and Orleans officials to take his equipment out on the beach to demolish and move several cottages left in peril because of erosion linked to recent storms.

After Winkler missed a July 1 deadline to remove the equipment, Orleans selectmen refused let him trek back over the barrier beach. The beach has been closed for weeks to traffic because of the shorebirds.

Influenced by two developments, selectmen changed their mind in a special meeting Monday afternoon. Winkler filed a lawsuit Friday that asked Judge Regina Quinlan in Barnstable Superior Court to block the selectmen's order, according to Winkler's attorney, William Riley of Chatham.

Also Friday, the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife absolved Orleans of responsibility even if the equipment's emergency move scares away nesting birds and dooms the eggs. If something were to happen to the protected birds, the state would "consider this an unpredicted outcome and no particular person or group's fault," assistant division director Thomas French wrote in an e-mail.

The language was key for Orleans selectmen, who worried that the state would close the town-owned beach or levy fines if a bird or egg died during the move.

After getting selectmen's consent Monday afternoon, a happy Winkler left from Ryder's Cove in Chatham at 11:30 p.m. to find the full moon tide washing over the beach, he said yesterday.

Seven hours later, his equipment was parked near Trail 1 in Orleans, poised for today's careful creep by the shorebirds. "We finally got everybody to agree," he said. "At least we're safe and sound."

[Plum Crazy]

Personally I think the whole business with the crane was a good thing.
It brought into the light how rediculous protecting these birds is, from another point of view.
The more publicity on how stupid this whole thing is the better.
This ESA has gone too far.
Keep sending those letters everyone. Sooner or later it will work.