just got my sticker and was informed that the powers that be have decreed that the back trail to Race Point, Hatches Harbor and the Race will all be closed until late June. They site plovers, but this is really about terns - terns are the new plovers ~
The rangers aren't sure yet exactly what is going on (remember, the rangers don't implement policy, just enforce it - so don't blame them) because this just came down yesterday afternoon. All the bigwigs drove around the beach then issued a vague
press release:
Cape Cod National Seashore Superintendent George Price announced that there will be changes to the use of the Off Road Vehicle (ORV) Corridor as a result of a recent evaluation of suitable habitat for piping plovers. The immediate effect will be the closure of vehicle access to Hatches Harbor during the piping plover courtship and nesting period.Recent on-site consultations with officials of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service resulted in changes to the management of habitat in the Hatches Harbor area. Additional areas of the sandy spit of Hatches Harbor will be symbolically fenced in April, limiting vehicle access. Fencing and ORV access will be re-assessed as the season progresses, although changes are unlikely before the end of June. Piping plovers are listed as threatened under the Federal and Massachusetts Endangered Species Acts. This decision is consistent with both the 1996 Atlantic Coast Piping Plover Recovery Plan guidelines and the 1998 Negotiated Rule for Off-Road Vehicle Use within Cape Cod National Seashore.
'Additional areas of the sandy spit of Hatches Harbor will be symbolically fenced in' - I love the term 'symbolically fenced in'.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
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