Hearing on Race Point Beach Closures

[Sweetwater]

There was a hearing about Race Point Beach closure at the Provincelands Visitors center. Did anyone go? (I couldn't make it). If so, what can you tell us about the proceedings?

[jkswimmer]

They have a ACE in the hole.

[Flaptail]

I was there. It was a dog and pony show. They are mandated by law to have a public forum and period of comment on anything they do. They also have so many hurdles to leap, in the form of varying government agencies, wildlife protection groups and user groups that to do as little as possible while giving the perception that they are actually doing a lot is the real status quo.

The Park Services system of rotating park superintendents and head rangers around the country may work for them but it really doesn't work for us. Having people come in from forest parks and urban parks to run the seashore and thier lack of experience with the complexity of the beach environment hurts the way things are done and certainly thier learning curve time never catches up to the problems at hand and how to really deal effectively with them.

We will get somekind of alternative access but really that accesswill be just a token and the only thing that it will accomplish is that the NPS will be able to say, "look we kept the beach open" ( yeah two tenths of a mile at high head, big deal)

Meanwhile the gay community has done a boffo job of retaining Wood End as thier private beach and south of Longnook, where Plovers don't find any suitable habitat for breeding remains close for no real reason.

Lastly the Advisory group as a whole is dysfunctional with some members ( like P-Towns rep) not showing at all and is so diverse as to be flacid)

[tattoobob]

100 SCV's in 2/10ths of a mile is a joke, they opened 1/10th on S. Race last summer and if you weren't there before sunup all the beach goers had all the spots. what a nightmare. Bottom line is we will never win or have the rights we once had.

[DZ]

Has any of the surfcasting community ever thought of approaching Cape beach access in a different way? I've had the pleasure of fishing up that way for a few years now - I always wondered if it would be advantageous to ask for more satellite parking areas to access the beach instead of asking for beach driving access. I might be striking a nerve here - but if you think you're losing what you have - might be time to re-think the access issue. What do you think Steve?

DZ

[JHABS]

There is enough Beach for everyone, But it seems every year to be less, You pay to drive the beach but Its the Birds or whatever . Soon they will say the Seals. More parking area good idea but more Beach to drive on even better. It's the Beginning of the End , THEY Don't want us on the Beach.......................

[jkswimmer]

I was at the meeting and what I got from it was that they try to use any excuse not to allow anyone into a area. Some of the things said were, we have to do an impact study, the hill is to high for trucks to climb, people will have to drive across a wetted area that is recovering,we have a management plan and we have to protect the birds. Someone did bring up the satelite parking.

[fishonnelsons]

Good attendance for winter, about 150, MBBA, regular folks but also Sierra Club and birders, but most for more access.

Most of the meat of the meeting was on why they could not do someting, versus why they could.

Why nots:

Herring Cove to Wood End was due to a 2005 washthrough that wasn't healed yet, as well as high "beachgoer" traffic. BS on the washthrough as each winter heals everything, as pointed out by someone. I brought up the fact that ORV traffic out there could actually help the Seashore in policing the activities of those out there in the hills (don't know th epolitically correct way of saying it!!!) but they don't want to touch that one. My feeling is great digital shots to newspapers, Congressman, etc of that activity would sure put alot of pressure on them to do something.

Herring Cove toward Race Pt light - possibility, not alot of plover activity but they are adverse to that, I think, because it would reduce available parking $$$$ in that lot - $15/car/day. But that is still on the table for future.

Opening up old access roads off of the telephone pole route - deemed not ecologically right, too much damage to vegetation and habitat for the minimal additional access it would create. Thats BS because they don't know how much access it would create until the birds actualy plant themselves down, if they congregate in one area, then maybe another access route would be good.

Best for last - use old Exit 8/Dune Shack Rd - some critical "wetlands"there (then why do they let Art's Dune Tour use it????), they don't want to upset the Dune Shack residents ( they have fu$%#@ed them enough already, but 2000 seasonal permits versus less than 100 residents??), and as a Ranger "slipped" and said "their ace in the hole was" the route was very hard and dangerous, operationally unsafe", we said what about the other access routes - Race Pt South, Coast Guard etc - they were just as hard and people could access them.

Bottom Line - "when less then 1/2 mile of total beach was open to ORV", they want to get approval to exercise any one of the following three options, just one, not 2, or all 3:
1. open High Head South to Head of the Meadow prior to July 1
2. open High Head north to Exit 8 prior to July 21
3.open Coast Guard beach in Truro for day time use. (needs Truro ok)

Obviously, any of those options could be eliminated if birds are present. Our put was if any of the beach is closed, open up those and other areas, maintain the status quo - if you close a 1/4 mile, open up another 1/4 mile, at least tempoary.

The ORV sub-committee who chaired the meeting are meeting Monday to finalize recommendations to Cape Cod Seashore Advisory Commission, meeting next Friday at Wellfleet Headquarters. Flap is right, sub-committee seems to be in dis-array - Ptown member never goes to meetings, although I am not sure they ever have meetings, and I will follow that one up with the Ptown selectmen.

We shall see, it is pretty fricking frustrating. On the one hand I want to say they are at least looking at some options but on the other hand they are truly rejecting good alternatives - Wood End, more accss off the pole Road, Exit 8 for bulls%$#& reasons, which leads you to believe they don't give a $^^%^$#.

[Slipknot]

sounds depressing

it's like it's a trial or something

[piemma]

You know, and I am not advocating this, but wouldn't be funny if everyone just drove on the beach?
What would the rangers do, call out the National Guard because a bunch of fishermen were fishing?

I know it won't work but the reasons you guys posted are the reasons some of us old guard don't fish the Cape anymore. Just to many beach goers, seals, closures and rules and regs and not enough fish. It's a damn shame because we are the ones who kept the beach going for so many years. Our permit money funded the whole thing. Now the "bird" people feel like they are entitled to the whole shoreline and we are the "bad guys". Screw 'um. There's better fishing in RI now anyway. So you walk and jump rocks.

[BigFish]

I think I am pretty much done paying to "NOT" go out on the Race fishing! I understand when Flaptail says we need to continue on paying for the permits and making our presence felt.....but the fishing down there is not worth the price of admission nevermind the plovers and the seals and the mung!!! I do think the seals are the reason the fishing is suffering but it is compounded by the other issues I mention and its just not worth the trip there anymore! I got ocean 20 minutes from my house and the fishing is a boatload better than at Race Point! I got out there 2 times this season for $150.00 and not that it was my fault....the dang birds had it closed until the week before Labor Day and when I did try to hoof it out there say from HOM.....there were so many seals it was ridiculous!!! I usually have better fishing on the backside beaches anyway so there is where I will go!

[Swimmer]

I remember the day the NSS was dedicated by Bobby Kennedy with Ted Kennedy in tow. I saw them land at the middle school in this old freikin helicopter that was a stones throw from the Visitor Ctr. on route 6. Things changed that day and have been changing ever since to that wonderful area. We used to drive anywhere we wanted to. Start at Coast Guard beach and head north or just drive to Nauset Inlet the other way. My neighbors had a camp on North Beach that we stayed at quite often. Nobody ever, ever bothered you. The last time I went out there was with a guy who worked at a tackle shop in North Eastham in the early 80's and there was actually a police officer running radar, writing tickets, on the inside road. I think at some point the only vehicles out there on the race will be the shuttle buses driven by the park ranger. I think some of us here are lucky that other folks like flaptail have an unabiding interest in keeping open the beaches that he takes the time to learn about the goings on.