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Vol XIII, No. 4 July-August 1999 Table of Contents: AGREEMENT REACHED ... AND SCHEDULE SLIPS Following a long (and expensive) effort, the Departments of the Army and Interior have agreed on a Fire Island, New York, Partnership Agreement. Back in November, 1997, proponents of the Fire Island Interim Project were happy when officials of the Department of the Interior and the US Army Corps of Engineers verbally agreed to a plan of action that would move that beach replenishment plan forward. The agreement, unfortunately, turned out to not be worth the paper it wasn’t written on. Field personnel continued to do what they felt was necessary, including slowing the project when it appeared their particular program objectives would not be advanced by it. When it became apparent that the agencies were not likely to agree until higher units of government forced them to do so, the Association beat the drums to raise enough money to retain top-level Washington counsel (Dawson & Associates) to see what could be done. Even after Senators D’Amato and Moynihan and Congressmen Forbes and Lazio wrote a strong letter in December 1998, demanding that the agencies get together – or explain why it was impossible to do so – it was late June before a response was delivered to the Hill. In fairness, the Corps and Interior have much more to think about than a relatively insignificant project on Long Island (the Everglades project comes to mind). At any rate, Assistant Interior Secretary Donald J. Barry (Fish & Wildlife and Parks) and Assistant Secretary of the Army Joseph W. Westphal (who heads the Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works program) jointly signed a letter to the delegation that announced they had reached agreement on how to complete the project. The letter to Senator Moynihan stated, " Over the past five months, the Corps and the DOI have coordinated extensively with the State of New York, the Fire Island Association and members of your staff ... our agencies worked through the complex issues that had to be addressed ... . The Agreement sets forth six important principles of cooperation that we believe will enhance working relationships between the agencies, and facilitate the completion, on schedule, of the important studies and analyses required prior to decisions on both the Interim project and the broader Reformulation Study." The letter concludes, "Working together, we are confident that the Federal government, in partnership with the State of New York, and other interested parties, can move these important efforts forward, address the short- and long-term health of Fire Island, while continuing to balance storm and environmental resource protection needs." The signatories to the agreement, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army Michael Davis and Counsel to Assistant Secretary Barry Bill Leary, intend to come to Long Island soon to brief field personnel on what the agreement means. It was hoped that visit would occur in early July, but that was not to be. The Environmental Impact Statement that was to have circulated for agency comment and be returned by month-end now seems likely to be returned in August. It is unusually lengthy (a reflection of the effort to anticipate all the concerns everyone is expected to have with it) but Interior Department officials tell FIA that it is being worked on with all possible dispatch. The public hearing on the draft EIS is still scheduled for September. This year’s summer meeting will be held at the Community House in Ocean Beach on July 31 at 11:00 a.m. There is a lot to cover. The principal topic, of course, will be the ongoing struggle to gain a beach replenishment project for the beaches of Fire Island. Suffolk Legislator Angie Carpenter, a frequent visitor to Fire Island as a member of the Law Enforcement and Safety Council, will talk about what has to be done to gain the cooperation of the county government. The law requires the federal and state project cooperators to turn over responsibility for maintaining the project to a local municipality. But Suffolk has shown reluctance to engage the potential legal liability that ownership of a shore protection project might entail. It has objected, similarly, to assuming responsibility for a proposed inlet bypassing project at Shinnecock. Joe Vietri, Deputy Chief of Planning for the Corps of Engineers’ New York District, will comment on the status of the project. The Corps must be guided by sound engineering principles and it is the Planning Division’s job to assure that the project actually can deliver the protection intended. The FIIP has been pared to the bone to assure that environmental needs are met; further reduction in the amount of fill placed in some areas might jeopardize the engineering integrity of the project. Superintendent Dillon will also address the meeting. In discussing the FIIP at the Seaview Association’s summer meeting on July 10, the Superintendent made it clear that the Seashore has no objection to protecting the developed areas of Fire Island. When it comes to the substantial federal tracts that are adjacent to some communities, however, he believes the regulations are clear that natural forces should prevail in such areas. Unfortunately, until there is permanent bypassing of sand around the Westhampton groins and Moriches Inlet ebb delta, Fire Island will continue to erode at a rate greater than normal for the area. Bob Spencer has engaged with Supt. Dillon in an on-going dialogue over these issues. He believes, strongly, in the rights of all Fire Island property owners and is working hard to forge the modus vivendi and mutual support system envisioned by the creators of the park. The final scheduled speaker is Larry Liebesman, FIA’s environment counsel. He has studied the Fire Island National Seashore enabling legislation and the implementing regulations with some care, and is also an expert in the processes followed under the National Environmental Protection Act. It’s essential that each step in the FIIP be taken in strict conformity with the statute if the project is to withstand a legal challenge from the environment community. This is a very important meeting. Please try to assure there is a good turnout from your community. A friend writes: "My check, sent April 3 to FIA, wasn’t cashed until May 27th. Multiplied by 100 checks [we wish!] there’s a loss of interest there. It also sends a message that FIA doesn’t really need my money [we do, we do!]." We did have several checks that didn’t get to the bank as soon as they should have. We apologize for any inconvenience this caused and promise to do better in the future. FIA’s new address for dues and donations: Kennard N. Hirsch, Treasurer To change your address, send both old and new address to FIA, 263 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011. At the invitation of Costa Dillon and Maria Wagenbrenner, Chief of Interpretation, FIA president Jerry Stoddard spoke to the Seashore staff about the role of the Fire Island property owners in the history of Fire Island National Seashore. The following is based on his remarks: In December 1955 some 500 people who opposed an announced plan of the Town of Islip to build a service road from the Lighthouse tract to Ocean Beach met in Ocean Beach to make their opposition known. The group organized as the Fire Island Voters Association, which later became FIA. The service road was rejected by Islip, and the general public is prevented from using the dirt track (Burma Road) which is restricted to permitted four-wheel drive vehicles. That’s why Fire Island remains the only developed barrier island in the US that does not have a formal road system, a defining attribute of Fire Island, both as a National Park and as a group of summer residential communities. It was not only Islip that thought a road along Fire Island would be a good idea. Robert Moses conceived an ocean boulevard that would run from the southern tip of Staten Island all the way along the south shore barrier island system to Bridgehampton. Most are not aware that Moses’ plan called for development of whatever space his highway project didn’t use. But it was development that the residents – his chief opposition – wanted to avoid. The Voters Association petitioned the Congress to keep Fire Island permanently free of further development by making it a National Seashore. This was opposed by the Park Service - for good reasons. The park is too small, it has too many people living in it, relative to its size, and so forth. Nevertheless, at one point in the early 1960s there were no fewer than three bills in Congress, pushed by the homeowners, calling for creation of the park. Even after one was finally passed in 1964 a legal action had to be threatened to force the Park Service to get on with it. So, it was the people who enjoyed Fire Island most that caused this park to be created. To many, it is the single best thing that ever happened to the south shore of Long Island. There is not another location in the world where this much coastline is open and available to the public, so close to a major urban center. As Long Island development continues, Fire Island will be looked to increasingly to serve as a recreation area for its citizens and visitors. The Congressional Record contains many _ references to the way Congress intended the Seashore to work. The bill sponsors all saw the need for a close and harmonious relationship between the communities and the park if the Seashore was going to be able to function, and this was continued in later amendments to the original legislation. The proposed Fire Island Interim Project is far and away the main topic of concern for Fire Islanders. There were many reasons for delay in getting to this point, but the main one has to do with the very thing that led to the creation of the park in the first place: the fear of over development. And this is where the state of New York comes in. Article 34 of the state’s Environmental Conservation Law is designed to control development in Erosion Hazard Areas. It incorporates much of the best found in other states’ coastal construction control laws. It is only now in effect on Fire Island, but it must be in effect if there is to be an Interim or Reformulation project. Article 34 accomplishes the objective of controlling development by making development impossible in the project area. The owners of the property upon which the project is to be constructed must provide an easement, or transfer the property in fee, to the state if the project is going to be built. We have heard a lot about people "building on the fragile dunes," but this won’t happen here because the "fragile dunes" that are constructed in this project won’t be owned -- for building purposes -- by the people who want to build. Several other issues were discussed; for a full copy of the remarks call FIA or visit our web site at http://www.fireislandassn.org |
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