Wellfleet, Great Island, Plovers
Mon, 06/07/2010 - 09:58
I have heard that the Great Island beach in Wellfleet is closed to kiters because of piping plovers. Does anyone have an update on this? Does this cover the entire beach in all tides?
Mon, 06/07/2010 - 11:25
#1
The area enforcer kicked all
The area enforcer kicked all of the kiteboarders off the beach on sunday, even though everyone was well over 500 ft from the signs marking the plover nesting area. When asked for specifics, he admitted that the ruling was unclear and could not define where was acceptable launch so out of fear says they have to ban completely. He did say that the new ruling was decided on saturday.
I'm wondering what has changed since the 2009 meeting that went so well for access rights?
This article is informative (with access slant) : http://islandfreepress.org/2009Archives/03.19.2009-CouldCapeCodsKitesurf...
Mon, 06/07/2010 - 13:30
#3
I sense that this may be an
I sense that this may be an under informed and over reaching enforcer. Wellfleet had a discussion a year ago about banning kiting and it was ruled in favor of kiting, so I think banning all kiting on Sunday may have been an honest mistake.
Mon, 06/07/2010 - 18:49
#4
The Cape Cod National
The Cape Cod National Seashore bans kiteboarding on all its bayside beaches from April 1 until the plovers fledge. The Town of Wellfleet permits kiteboarding at Town Landings. There is a plover nest immediately south of the Gut/Great Island Town Landing. On Sunday, a NPS Park Ranger threatened kiters with tickets if they launched from the Gut Town Landing despite being informed by the kiters that kiteboarding is permitted on Town Landings (there are two of these within the NPS boundaries on the bayside in Wellfleet -- one at Duck Harbor and one at the Gut). We are trying to sort out with CCNS what led to the problem on Sunday.
Regardless of how this sorts out, there is no kiting outside the Town Landings on the bayside within the CCNS boundaries. CCNS boundaries extend from the beach a 1/4 mile out -- not only can you not launch from the CCNS bayside beaches, you cannot launch from a Town Landing and then kite within this 1/4 mile zone.
Not my rules, I don't agree with them, and I don't think there is any scientific basis for them, but not following them puts at risk the limited bayside access we do have in Wellfleet during plover season.
Tue, 06/08/2010 - 00:41
#5
Thank you Christa.
Thank you Christa.
Please keep us informed... we'd like to post any related info on here to keep people in-the-know and keep the Gut kiteable. We really appreciate it.
And let us know if there is anything we can do. We'd love to help, but don't want to step on anyone's toes.
Tue, 06/08/2010 - 10:34
#6
Does the 1/4 mile rule apply
Does the 1/4 mile rule apply to riding both south and north of the town landing at the Gut ? Usually there are signs on both sides, but last year I do not remember seeing the sign on the north side of the town landing.
Thanks,
--Paul
Tue, 06/08/2010 - 18:30
#7
there are houses to the north
there are houses to the north that you are supposed to stay away from. Usually there is a sign.
Wed, 06/09/2010 - 16:10
#8
Sorry, I meant the south
Sorry, I meant the south side. North side is where the protected area for the plovers usually is.
--Paul
Wed, 06/30/2010 - 14:10
#9
Any update?
Hi Christa,
Is access allowed if one follow the rule you clearly spelled out here? or are the rangers blocking access?
Wed, 06/30/2010 - 14:25
#10
The rules are: keep
The rules are: keep everything as nebulous as possible just so some over eager rent-a-cop can overstep his authority and ban you.
Wed, 06/30/2010 - 17:05
#11
I was at the Gut 2 weekends
I was at the Gut 2 weekends ago, but no kiting for me till my ankle heals. I spoke to the person that was counting the number of plover chicks through binoculars. She was with the park service. She mentioned that it will take another 3 weeks till the chicks can fly, at which point they will probably move to another place. I inferred that the temporary ban might be lifted at that time. She did say there was confusion if kiteboarding was allowed at all outside of the town landing. She mentioned the water belongs to the national park while the town owns the portion of the beach. The signs posted are confusing as hell. Clearly in the town landing area no kite flying or dogs are allowed. On the south side of the town landing area there is a sign saying fly your kites south of there. It did not mention kiteboarding kites. So yeah, more confusing information was presented...
--Paul
Wed, 06/30/2010 - 17:26
#12
Exactly! The signs say you
Exactly! The signs say you can fly kites exactly where they say you can not. And where you can fly kites, there are signs saying that you can't.
Dunoyer summed it up perfectly.
Wed, 06/30/2010 - 18:41
#13
My personal favorite was a
My personal favorite was a sign I noticed one morning while rigging in Nahant. It said "Windsurfing Prohibited" I looked around and decided to go against the rule. I later contacted the DCR regarding this, and they replied that this sign was outdated, needed to be removed, but the organization did not have the budget to send a crew out to do the task...
Mon, 06/14/2010 - 17:04
#14
America's first public Beach.... Revere Beach
Revere Beach is slowly being taken away a little at a time. Sea grass is planted by man to establish dunes, for plovers to move in. More roped off areas on Revere for DCR to restrict access for not just kiters but everyone to where the "Ocean Club Condo development is supposed to be constructed.
"Throw a frog in boiling water he jumps out immediately, put him in cool water and slowly turn up the heat and he'll just stay there to boil to death slowly". I use this analogy because it best describes what is going on in the area. We are loosing beach in otherwise public beaches in Revere and Winthrop.
Mon, 06/14/2010 - 17:29
#15
I like the frog analogy
Although I like the frog analogy, It turns out that frogs will jump out when the water gets too warm. People on the other hand may not be as bright.
http://www.uga.edu/srel/ecoviews/ecoview021118.htm
Skipper, between the goings on in Nahant and the shrinking beach at Revere it sounds like you need an extented period of 20 kt warm steady side on shore breeze.
That's a disturbing bit of news. I hope the old rule, no kites in the air within 200 meters of the boundary still applies and that the enforcer was just not well informed. Saturday morning, early, without a public hearing seems like a strange time to make a determination regarding access to a public beach with a well established history of kitesurfers and piping plovers.
The basic problem seems to be that there is no science behind the kiting ban. I understand the need for caution but making a blanket prohibition strikes me as a mistake. No one know if 200 meters is enough buffer or even if kites overhead matters at all to the birds.
Do you recall who the enforcer was affiliated with, Town, Federal Parks Service, Audobon employee, Audobon volunteer?
__________________
Relax, Stand up and Fly Right