From today's CC Times editorial page:
July 12, 2006
A compromise over piping plovers?
By JIM COOGAN
Overshadowed by the headlines about off-road vehicle restrictions and beach closings due to nesting piping plovers is a story that should illustrate the wider ramifications of reintroducing threatened animals to former habitats.
The Race Point Lighthouse keeper's house in Provincetown was restored about 10 years ago by volunteers of the American Lighthouse Foundation.
The building is rented out to people who come for a night or two to experience the natural beauty of the Cape Cod National Seashore. Normally, an ORV owned by the foundation delivers visitors and supplies via Pole Line road, a sandy dune track.
During the week of June 11, three plover nests hatched and the road was closed. Jim Walker, one of the onsite volunteer directors for the lighthouse, asked Park Superintendent George Price if his group could position a second vehicle closer to the building to meet guests who had to walk the approximate half mile in heavy sand across the no-vehicle zone. He was told that the mandated 200-meter circle buffering each nest could not allow it.
Walker offered to have a person walk in front of the vehicle to see that no baby plovers would be run over. Price told him that only a certified biologist could do this and there were not enough staff available. Faced with an inability to get people easily to the lighthouse, Walker and his volunteers closed the facility and refunded all reservation money.
''This is our peak season,'' said a clearly frustrated Walker. ''Everything we take in goes into maintaining and restoring this and other historic lighthouses. We stand to lose an average of $400 a day until these birds fledge. And we're told that could be as late as mid July. That's a whole month out of what is essentially a five-and-a-half month season.''
I called Price to see if I could get the whole story. As we talked, I could see that, indeed, he is in a difficult position. Clearly, he didn't want to see this lighthouse attraction shut down.
Initially, he even had Craig Thatcher, the North District ranger, helping with luggage transfer across the sand. But that effort couldn't be sustained because of the turnover of guests during the week. Price suggested purchasing a balloon-wheeled cart to pull supplies to the keeper's house. But as most of the guests are over 50 years old, that was not deemed a reasonable solution by the lighthouse people.
''When I brought these problems to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife people,'' Price said, ''I was told that compromise of any sort means dead birds. And my job is to carry out the law. We are personally liable for any actions that we take that might put these birds at risk.''
So here we have two good men and a valuable program stymied by preservation regulations that have no wiggle room. As of July 6, the lighthouse facility was still closed. It's a sad and frustrating situation. Environmentalists have consistently emphasized the endangered status of the piping plover.
But the federal government lists the bird as ''threatened'' in many parts of the country - not endangered. It is more than a subtle difference. The protection of this bird, while important, ignores the plight of those people who scratch out a living in the all-too-short Outer Cape summer season. It's simply cavalier to say, ''Oh, it's only for a few weeks each year.''
The real danger is that people who generally support conservation efforts will become radicalized. We are already hearing of ''salting'' of plover nesting areas with dead animals to attract predators to kill the birds. And the successful recovery of the plovers only means that without some long-term solution that addresses reasonable human concerns, ''the plover problem'' is only going to get worse. And that's not good for humans - or birds.
Jim Coogan is a retired history teacher who lives in Sandwich. E-mail him at
coogan206@gis.net
(Published: July 12, 2006)
an appearance of concern and nothing more 
Glad he's on our side.
Its a strange battle yet 
Hybrid Mode
