Norton Point Beach Will Close to Protect Piping Plover Chicks

By JAMES KINSELLA

A vehicle closure to protect piping plovers may be imminent at
Norton Point beach in Edgartown.

The action comes against a backdrop in which Dukes County Sheriff
Michael A. McCormack has agreed to take on beach management for the
county.

Two piping plover nests have been found on the beach, about 400
yards from the western end at Katama. Another nest has been found on
State Beach.

County manager E. Winn Davis said Wednesday he had been advised by
Robert Culbert, a consultant to the county, that the plovers may hatch
by the end of this week.

Piping plovers are a threatened species and receive special
protection under state law.

Once the plovers hatch, the county will enforce a state-mandated
four-wheel-drive vehicle closure for 30 days near the nests on Norton
Point. The move will close off access along the beach from its western
end. Vehicles will still be able to travel onto the beach from the
eastern, or Chappaquiddick, end, which is owned by The Trustees of
Reservations.

Vehicles do not travel on State Beach, but the county will close off
the area around the plover nest on that beach to pedestrians for 30 days
once the plovers hatch.

Plovers are flightless immediately after hatching, and are tended by
their parents until they fledge. This makes them susceptible to getting
run over by vehicles or stepped on by humans.

Deputies from the sheriff's department will enforce the
closures once they take effect. Mr. Culbert, who is the former county
beach manager, resigned about six weeks ago.

Sheriff McCormack will now be in charge of managing Norton Point,
which the county owns, and State Beach and Eastville Beach, which are
owned by the state but managed by the county.

Mr. Davis said sheriff department deputies will be patrolling the
beaches. He anticipates that two to three deputies will be out on the
beaches during the weekends.

Using the sheriff's department for beach management is
expected to save the county about $45,000 this year.

Mr. Davis has told the county commissioners that it does not make
sense to employ two full-time people to manage beaches used mostly for
three or so months. By not replacing Mr. Culbert, the county will save
about $60,000 in salary and benefits.

The county continues to employ Mr. Culbert as a consultant, and has
retained the assistant beach manager, Nathan Durawa, in his job.