Your Thoughts on Plovers

[Rockport24]

Throwing timber, that dish sounds good, although it sounds like something you would get on Nantucket for $49.95 a dish.

Hmmmm the lovely Plover. You guys hit it right on the head in my opinion, it's not about the plovers. The problem is a few bad apple surfcasters are ruining it for everybody. One eco nut takes his morning walk on the beach, sees a few discarded beer cans and plastic bait bags and maybe some fishing line strewn accross the beach, has a fit, and get's his bird-loving buddies in there to close off the beach to the surfcasters. I think Bob maybe started this thread to start a discussion about how poeple dirty up the beach a lot. (Bob by all means, correct me if I am wrong). It is true that a lot of surfcasters litter the hell out of the beach, go to the river mouth of PI to see proof. Or course, I know nobody on this board would ever dream of littering or driving on dunes or anything like that, but the truth is those people are out there and proceed to get the brid lovers severly pissed off!

Then there is the fact that the PITA types just don't want anybody fishing because they think it is "cruel" and that I am sure is a BIG part of it also.

[Rockport24]

Piemma, just read your post, good point there. I'm sure tons of poeple just drive the beach cause they are too damn lazy to walk on with some beach chairs for a day in the sun!! Those fools are taking away from the poeple that REALLY benefit from driving the beach, US.

[Karl F]

Well Don, it ain't that easy .. Molly Benjamin wrote an article about all that several years ago in the CC times.. it ain't just the plover, (all varieties of them), they will mention Least Terns, Roseate Terns. all shore birds, basically...
Funny thing is, I asked once... how come the bathing beach, (Nauset) in front of the parking lot, is never closed to plovers.. the answer, and it would be funny, if it were not ridiculous...the plovers will only nest where there is tire tracks.. they look for them
Piemma. you make some great points.. the biggest thing is the easy availability of 4 wheel drive, creating the crowds... I told the beach manager at Nauset, last year, to only allow 2 wheel drive vehicles on the beach.. he looked horrified... I told him no, don't be... it'll scare off the suv crowd, and you will have the guys (fishermen, and old school beach goers) who know how to drive on the beach, as the only ones left... he thought about it and smiled... he said he liked it, but it wouldn't fly.....

[The Dad Fisherman]

Just curious why they don't do what they do at the Plum Island Refuge for drive-ons. Fisherman only - There has to be 1 fishing rod per person in the vehicle to drive on, no exceptions. Of course you get the occasional knucklehead w/ the snoopy rod but I would think that would cut down on a lot of the SUV sunbathers that head out.

I know there is probably a lot more to it but I was just wondering.

[Squibby17]

I worked for the trustess of reservations on MV at Long Point Reservation one summer. I'm also an avid Surf Fisherman. So I have kinda seen both sides of the spectrum. We did not have any plover problem at long point but I did see a couple nests over at Nashweena on a property managed by the trustess. You honestly would not see the thing unless you walked a foot every few seconds while staring at the ground. The parts that are roped off, I'm sorry to say, are roped off because you might step on a plover or plover nest and not even know it. That said these birds pretty much go between the nest and the water and thats about all. So often more beach is closed off than nessesary. The hard sand near the surfs edge experiences much more change from waves than the occational korker foot print. I honestly believe in many cases that surf fisherman and birds can go exist. And both the naturalist's and 4x4 users must realize they have to concede something.

The coyote and skunk problem I think may be a larger issue. I don't think any one here hasnt encountered the striped cats while roaming the beaches at night. They are getting more and more populated every year and have few natural predators especially out on the islands. (may be we should get into skunk hunting for recreation)

While the summer months have over crowded beaches and non fishing beach bums the fishing is also not as good especially during the day. I can't tell you how many idots I saw that summer. Parents let their kids run all over the dunes and I caught one guy digging out a dune to make a fire pit for a huge BBQ party he had planned that evening. Generally in September and October the beach that I ride on has many areas open up that were previously closed. So you get better fishing, less crowds and more beach access.

I don't think there is a right answer to this problem. The naturalist have too much political support and law support systems where the Surf Fishermen don't have anything.

I'm actually more angry over Yuppie land owners who threaten to call the cops because your standing in 2 feet of water at three in the morning (disrupting the plankton) But i'll save that for another thread.