This week saw a flurry of 4×4 access closures due to piping plovers at state and Suffolk County beaches. Word came down Friday morning that Democrat Point, one of the most popular fishing access sites in the region, had to be closed completely. Prior to that, access to the oceanfront had remained open, but according to Sean Cruickshank, assistant park director of Robert Moses/Captree, “due to the migration of piping plover chicks on the ocean beachfront and the inlet we had to temporarily close off all beach vehicle access. Access to both Sore Thumb and Gilgo State Beach is still available.”
Out in Montauk, we were informed over the weekend by Montauk State Park manager Tom Dess that “the East and West end beachfronts of Napeague State Park are closed to vehicles due to 11 piping plover chicks inside the fences. You can only access the beachfront on the park’s main access road #1 to the center beach. You cannot leave the park along the beachfront to the town property on either side, as the area is closed due to the chicks.” At Hither Hills State Park, the oceanfront remains fully open to Beach Vehicle Permit holders. On the bayside, Goff Point is closed to vehicles due to plovers, but everything else on the north side remains open. Up at the Point, Montauk Point State Park remains fully open to Beach Vehicle Permit holders.
The outer beach at Suffolk County’s Smith Point Park was closed late last week due to “hatching nests immediately adjacent to the western daytrip area, which means the 4.5 miles of beach east of that are also now inaccessible,” according to Nick Gibbons, principal environmental analyst for Suffolk County Parks. “We will continue to visit the site and look to open the beach as soon as we possibly can. We are there daily to see what the day brings. If we find those chicks stay exclusively bayside, the outer beach will reopen, but if they cross back and forth bay to ocean (as their parents have been doing), the beach will have to remain closed.” He added “Even if these western broods fledge and can fly (30 days), we have another hatch coming (on or before 7/18) down east on the beach which cannot be bypassed on Burma Road, so inlet access would again be severed. These closures are not taken lightly by any means, and the county takes no pleasure in eliminating recreational access for our patrons.” It should be noted that both the state and county are required to follow guidelines established by U.S. Fish & Wildlife to protect endangered piping plovers or be subject to complete closure of the parks in question.
