Post by basicpatrick848 on Mar 22, 2009 22:09:21 GMT -4
March 19, 2009
Park Commission Votes to Take ‘Next Step’ Toward ORV Access to South Beach
by Tim Wood
CHATHAM, MA --- The park and recreation commission has voted to take “the next step” toward allowing off-road vehicles to access South Beach during the off-season.
“Rather than just block it now, we want to find out what is required” to open the barrier beach to ORVs, said Chairman Gary Anderson.
The general idea is to allow off-road vehicles to drive on the front beach between November and February. Prior to 1987, when North Beach was one continuous barrier beach, vehicles routinely drove to the tip of what is now South Beach.
Two weeks ago, the commission heard input from a number of local people who want the beach opened to ORV access. “There’s a lot of interest in this thing, and it is a traditional use in town,” said Anderson. “We don’t want to stop it”
There are several issues that need to be defined, Anderson said. Among them are access, land ownership, and overlapping jurisdiction of two federal agencies, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
South Beach is within the boundary of the Cape Cod National Seashore, which will probably need to grant permission for vehicles to access the beach. Anderson said that may be the concept’s biggest hurdle.
For the National Park Service to make a decision on the proposal, a study — either an environmental analysis or a more involved environmental impact study — would have to be done to look at the plan’s objectives and its potential impacts on natural resources, public safety, property and other elements, said Carrie Phillips, chief of natural resource management at the Cape Cod National Seashore.
Once the town approaches the Seashore, the federal agency would work with local officials to scope out the questions that need to be addressed. An alternatives analysis would then “look at all the options for accomplishing the objective, and find the least damaging approach,” Phillips said.
The process isn’t a short one. The study takes time, and there would be a period for public comment. The idea is to keep the process as transparent and open as possible.
“The objective of all this is to ensure that when the park makes a decision yea or nay, it’s as informed as possible,” Phillips said. A final decision would likely be up to the National Park Service’s regional director.
The other federal issue involves the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. Since 2006, a land bridge has joined the refuge to South Beach. Currently, the town and the federal agency have a handshake agreement regarding the boundary between the two, but the potential for vehicles to be able to drive onto Monomoy worries refuge officials.
“We just don’t want to see ORVs on our property,” said Refuge Manager Mike Brady.
Monomoy, he noted, is a federally designated wilderness area where motorized or vehicle traffic is not allowed. While South Beach would be open to ORVs during the time of year when shorebird nesting is not an issue, there are other environmental concerns, Brady said, including endangered tiger beetles, which have migrated from the refuge to the land bridge with South Beach. Compaction of its habitat by vehicles driving on the beach could have a negative effect on the population, one of only a few colonies of the beetles on the eastern seaboard.
The refuge also doesn’t have the staff to monitor Monomoy during the off-season. In a letter to the park and recreation commission, Brady expressed concern that despite the “best efforts of the town to inform residents that the refuge is closed to vehicles, there could be substantial unauthorized vehicular access.”
The commission must define a plan for ORV access before approaching the federal agencies, Anderson said. At this point, the commission has asked its staff to develop more information before taking that step. He added that the commission is not unanimous in its support for allowing ORVs to use South Beach; last Tuesday’s vote was 6-1, with commissioner Meredith Fry dissenting. At the public discussion two weeks ago, she said she felt there were so many hurdles to jump that the proposal was not likely to go forward.
“The majority of us want to at least see what’s going to be involved, rather than stopping it in its tracks,” said Anderson.
Park Commission Votes to Take ‘Next Step’ Toward ORV Access to South Beach
by Tim Wood
CHATHAM, MA --- The park and recreation commission has voted to take “the next step” toward allowing off-road vehicles to access South Beach during the off-season.
“Rather than just block it now, we want to find out what is required” to open the barrier beach to ORVs, said Chairman Gary Anderson.
The general idea is to allow off-road vehicles to drive on the front beach between November and February. Prior to 1987, when North Beach was one continuous barrier beach, vehicles routinely drove to the tip of what is now South Beach.
Two weeks ago, the commission heard input from a number of local people who want the beach opened to ORV access. “There’s a lot of interest in this thing, and it is a traditional use in town,” said Anderson. “We don’t want to stop it”
There are several issues that need to be defined, Anderson said. Among them are access, land ownership, and overlapping jurisdiction of two federal agencies, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
South Beach is within the boundary of the Cape Cod National Seashore, which will probably need to grant permission for vehicles to access the beach. Anderson said that may be the concept’s biggest hurdle.
For the National Park Service to make a decision on the proposal, a study — either an environmental analysis or a more involved environmental impact study — would have to be done to look at the plan’s objectives and its potential impacts on natural resources, public safety, property and other elements, said Carrie Phillips, chief of natural resource management at the Cape Cod National Seashore.
Once the town approaches the Seashore, the federal agency would work with local officials to scope out the questions that need to be addressed. An alternatives analysis would then “look at all the options for accomplishing the objective, and find the least damaging approach,” Phillips said.
The process isn’t a short one. The study takes time, and there would be a period for public comment. The idea is to keep the process as transparent and open as possible.
“The objective of all this is to ensure that when the park makes a decision yea or nay, it’s as informed as possible,” Phillips said. A final decision would likely be up to the National Park Service’s regional director.
The other federal issue involves the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. Since 2006, a land bridge has joined the refuge to South Beach. Currently, the town and the federal agency have a handshake agreement regarding the boundary between the two, but the potential for vehicles to be able to drive onto Monomoy worries refuge officials.
“We just don’t want to see ORVs on our property,” said Refuge Manager Mike Brady.
Monomoy, he noted, is a federally designated wilderness area where motorized or vehicle traffic is not allowed. While South Beach would be open to ORVs during the time of year when shorebird nesting is not an issue, there are other environmental concerns, Brady said, including endangered tiger beetles, which have migrated from the refuge to the land bridge with South Beach. Compaction of its habitat by vehicles driving on the beach could have a negative effect on the population, one of only a few colonies of the beetles on the eastern seaboard.
The refuge also doesn’t have the staff to monitor Monomoy during the off-season. In a letter to the park and recreation commission, Brady expressed concern that despite the “best efforts of the town to inform residents that the refuge is closed to vehicles, there could be substantial unauthorized vehicular access.”
The commission must define a plan for ORV access before approaching the federal agencies, Anderson said. At this point, the commission has asked its staff to develop more information before taking that step. He added that the commission is not unanimous in its support for allowing ORVs to use South Beach; last Tuesday’s vote was 6-1, with commissioner Meredith Fry dissenting. At the public discussion two weeks ago, she said she felt there were so many hurdles to jump that the proposal was not likely to go forward.
“The majority of us want to at least see what’s going to be involved, rather than stopping it in its tracks,” said Anderson.