2 mile beach to be used for plover refuge?

[surferman]

So they shut down the loran capability. Now they are looking for uses for it. Aren't their better uses than plover habitat? Isn't Sandy Hook enough? How about making it more accessible for fishermen.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/n...cc4c03286.html
As Coast Guard shuts down Loran, site of Cape facility eyed for piping plover nesting
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer | Posted: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 | 6 comments

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LOWER TOWNSHIP — The U.S. Coast Guard’s Loran radio navigation center here has helped mariners and aviators navigate safely for more than six decades. It may soon help breed piping plovers.
That’s the hope of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which wants to acquire 520 coastal acres here at the southern tip of Two-Mile Beach, where the U.S. Coast Guard has operated its Loran network since 1947.
The Wildlife Service took over 550 acres of the base in 1999 and used it to create the Two-Mile Beach Unit of the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge.
With the Coast Guard getting ready to scuttle its Loran system under a budgetary move announced by President Barack Obama’s administration last year, the base will close for good sometime this year. The service is considering doubling the size of the refuge, as the law allows another federal agency to have first crack at unused land.
“We’ve made our interest known. It’s the only closed beach and only protection for nesting shorebirds for 40 miles from Cape May to Atlantic City. It’s extremely important to them,” said Howard Schlegel, manager of the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge.
Schlegel said nests of the endangered piping plover already have been spotted on the Coast Guard property and it is a key spot for many other shorebirds.
What comes next

The General Services Administration will decide what to do with the site. In 1998, it received more than 50 requests when the Coast Guard vacated half the property, including one from the township to create a fire station.
Cmdr. Gary M. Thomas, who will serve as the last commanding officer of the Loran Support Unit, said the bill terminating the program allows the Coast Guard to at least recover the costs of decommissioning it. After that, other federal agencies are offered the property at no charge. If there is no interest, then state and local governments get a chance, Thomas said.
If the Wildlife Service gets the property, Schlegel said, the beach would be closed from April 1 to Sept. 30 for the piping plovers, but would have public access for the rest of the site. The Two-Mile Beach Unit has a parking lot, visitor contact center, maintenance building and walkways that are accessible to the disabled, and there are plans to build a wildlife viewing platform, Schlegel said.
The service probably would want to demolish the buildings that are part of the Loran Support Unit. The 625-foot-high Loran antenna, one of the tallest objects on the southern New Jersey coast, and one decorated by the Coast Guard personnel at Christmas, also may go, because it could pose a threat to migrating birds, Schlegel said.
Along with another 40 acres the service acquired in 2004 near Middle Thorofare Bridge, it would give the service well more than 1,000 acres that could revert to a coastal maritime forest.
“This would be really adding to what we’ve been trying to do at Two-Mile Beach and certainly a positive for the shorebirds,” Schlegel said.


Two Mile Beach timeline
1690: Map shows it as island between Cold Spring Inlet and Turtle Inlet.
1720s: Early county resident Aaron Leaming Sr. grazes cattle on the island known locally as Two Mile Beach.
1756: Map now shows inlet to north renamed Turtle Gut Inlet.
1776: Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet on June 29 when the American brigantine Nancy is deliberately run aground to evade capture by a British force. Americans booby-trap ship with gunpowder, killing as many as 40 British boarders.
1777: Salt works established to aid Revolutionary War effort.
1828: One of first maps to list the island as Two Mile Beach.
1854: Life Saving Station authorized but it doesn’t appear in records until 1873.
1902: Cape May Real Estate Company gets title to site.
1907: Congress authorizes construction of Cold Spring Inlet.
1908: Spoils from dredging inlet and Cape May Harbor used to fill lowlands at Two Mile Beach.
1919: Cape May County begins filling Turtle Gut Inlet to develop Wildwood Gables, today’s Wildwood Crest. Pennsylvania Railroad later fills for rail line.
1923: Lifesaving Station No. 38, manned by a crew of nine, is under water during an October storm.
1925: Life Saving Station discontinued.
1937: Witmer Stone’s book ‘Bird Studies at Old Cape May’ talks about beauty of Two Mile Beach.
1938: Ocean Drive constructed, linking Two Mile Beach to Five Mile Beach (the Wildwoods).
1947: U.S. Coast Guard takes over site and opens its Long Range Navigation, or Loran, system there.
1999: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service turns half of base into a wildlife refuge.
2009: President Barack Obama announces plans to end Loran network.
2010: Loran to end and rest of base to become available.

[plugcrazy]

I think all parties should share equally. If they want it for plovers for 3 months, fine. But let fishermen fish it also.

[cowherder]

Here is an update, fellas.



http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/a...cc4c03286.html

Posted: Wednesday, March 24, 2010
LOWER TOWNSHIP — Saltwater anglers are gearing up for another battle to keep access to one of the best fishing jetties in southern New Jersey once the U.S Coast Guard Loran navigation station closes at the end of October.
Anglers for years have been upset about the annual closing of the beaches at Holgate on the southern end of Long Beach Island to protect endangered shorebirds, including the piping plover. They don’t want the same thing to happen here at Cold Spring Inlet at the southern end of Two-Mile Beach.
“The last thing any surf fisherman wants to see is loss of access. We have plovers on a lot of beaches in New Jersey, not just Two-Mile Beach,” said Greg O’Connell, a surf fishing delegate with the Galloway Township-based Recreational Fishing Alliance.
O’Connell is worried the pending closing of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Loran radio-navigation station on Two-Mile Beach could again jeopardize access to the jetty at Cold Spring Inlet. The rock pile extends far out into the ocean and provides some of the best fishing in the region for those who don’t own a boat.
Access first became an issue in 1999 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took over 550 acres of the Coast Guard base and wanted to close the beach to protect piping plovers.
U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo was instrumental in working out a deal to close off the beach from April 1 through Sept. 30 to protect nesting plovers but also create safe access to the jetty.
At the 2002 dedication of the trail system, LoBiondo said the right balance had been struck between the need to provide public access and the need to protect endangered species.
The issue arose again recently when the Obama Administration decided to shut down the nation’s loran system. The base stopped transmitting radio navigation signals to the continental United States on Feb. 8 but plans to do some transmitting until Oct. 30 to honor international agreements with Canada and Russia.
Ownership may change
Once that is done, the 520-acre base could become available, and the Fish and Wildlife Service has already expressed interest in it. This would double the size of the Two-Mile Beach Unit of the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge.
Refuge Manger Howard Schlegel said piping plovers nest on the base, right near the jetty, and he would want to close the area off during the nesting season.
The RFA has already contacted LoBiondo. O’Connell said a coalition of more than 35 fishing clubs is getting behind the effort.
O’Connell said fishermen would be more than willing to work on solutions, such as setting up a trail away from the plovers or using fencing to protect them.
“There are ways to protect the birds and still have access to the beach and jetty,” said O’Connell.
Schlegel said it is premature to discuss the issue.
“I don’t want to speculate at this point in time. If we get closer to time where potentially the property will come to the refuge, there will be a discussion internally and externally. There’s no guarantee it will come to us,” said Schlegel.
Even if the Wildlife Service gets the Coast Guard beach, Schlegel noted the jetty is controlled and owned by the Army Corps of Engineers. It’s not in Coast Guard jurisdiction. He said there is a sign on it now that says it is not for recreational use.
“Plovers have traditionally nested there right by the jetty. Being the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, our interest is the protection of threatened and endangered species,” said Schlegel.
LoBiondo, who has helped garner funding for the refuge over the years, engineered the last deal and told the RFA he plans to be involved again.
“It is no secret that the jetty is one of the best land-based fishing spots in South Jersey. As the Coast Guard determines the future of its Two-Mile Beach property, rest assured I remain committed to preserving access to the jetty for fishermen,” LoBiondo said.
Windmills, maybe
Coast Guard Cmdr. Gary Thomas, who runs the Loran station, said the Coast Guard may want to retain the property. The Coast Guard has looked into constructing windmills and owns the large base, Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, on the other side of the inlet.
“We’re evaluating the use potential for something other than the Loran program. The Department of Energy has talked to me about windmills. There is interest,” said Thomas.
Thomas said an area near the jetty “is one of the bigger places for piping plover,” but he noted the access plan worked out with LoBiondo in 2001 has worked. Anglers walk the wet beach on the Coast Guard property where plovers are not nesting.
“We’re going to continue allowing access. The decision will be made by whoever takes over the property, if we vacate the property,” said Thomas.
The General Services Administration would be involved in deciding who gets the property, and other federal agencies would get the first crack at it, followed by state and local governments. Schlegel previously said if the property became part of the Two-Mile Beach Unit he would want the beach closed from April 1 to Sept. 30.
The tower
Schlegel has also said the Coast Guard buildings and the 625-foot Loran antenna, which could pose a threat to migrating birds, might be removed.
Ron Sinn, a local marine safety advocate, has been pushing for the antenna to be saved for use transmitting VHF radio signals. Sinn said VHF signals could go out much farther from this tower, and this could help save lives on the water. He said VHF signals now go about 20 miles but could go 70 or 80 miles with the loran tower.
“What’s more important, are you going to worry about the birds or people’s lives?” Sinn asks. “It seems to me mariners should have input on that.”
LoBiondo said any determination on the Loran tower is months, if not years, away. He said the Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security must first decide if they don’t want the property. LoBiondo said he would stay involved in the process if the GSA disposes of the property.
A radio station has also expressed interest in the tower, but said it would reduce its height to about 250 feet and provide safeguards for birds.
Contact Richard Degener:
609-463-6711