Patchogue, New York— On September 17, 2009, Fire Island National Seashore

began another season of a long-standing deer immunocontraceptive research

project on Fire Island, to help determine if deer populations on the island

can be kept in check by injecting female deer (does) with a birth control

vaccine. 
continue reading "Fall Deer Darting Program in Progress"

    

The following post is by courtesy of the Ocean Beach Association’s “Notes From the Beach”:

Vision Fire Island: Photo Scavenger Hunt [the deadline for submitting photos has been extended to October 16]

Get Involved: New General Management Plan for Fire Island

The National Park Service has begun working on a new General Management Plan (GMP) for Fire Island National Seashore. The current Plan, adopted in 1977, is at best, outdated.  Public scoping meetings were conducted in 2006, and foundation workshops have begun. You can sign up for the park’s E-Newsletter to get periodic updates of GMP progress and other current park news.  You also can share your ideas and opinions about the future management of the park and its programs as GMP planning continues. 

As part of this planning, FINS has created a public participation process called Vision Planning.  This process includes a Photo Scavenger Hunt, which is described below.  No one knows the joys of Fire Island better than its residents; therefore, we urge you to snap your favorite Fire Island sites, those that you feel show the Fire Island you most cherish and submit them for inclusion in the Scavenger Hunt.  Complete directions are posted at: www.visionfireislandd.com

ON  SPENCER’S  POINT

Early Autumn on Great South Beach

                                      By Bob Spencer

Autumn is now blending over a natural wonderland – the Great South Beach – also known as Fire Island, which is the barrier island rimming the southern side of the Great South Bay.
continue reading "Early Autumn"

The Fire Island Association held its 2009 Summer Membership Meeting at Whyte Hall, Fire Island Pines, on July 18.

Ron Martin, President of the Fire Island Pines Property Owner Association, welcomed the approximately 80 in attendance, commenting on the multi-purpose facility and its frequent use by members of the Pines community. The meeting room seats more than 200, and its entire north wall was opened to an expansive veranda and the breeze from Great South Bay.
continue reading "Notes on the 2009 Summer Meeting"

The following NEWSDAY story appeared on July 8.

The new $4.6-million Fire Island ferry terminal will open in Patchogue by Jan. 1, federal officials announced yesterday.

The long-awaited terminal, which has been in the planning stage for years and for which ground was broken in the fall, will replace the old station off West Avenue, officials said. The terminal could open in time for Patchogue’s holiday boat parade, held around Thanksgiving, if all goes well, National Park Service officials said.
continue reading "FINS Gets a New Patchogue Terminal"

.To FIA Directors, Members and Friends

There will be much to discuss at this year’s Summer Meeting at Fire Island Pines on July 18 – and we expect to have the right people doing the talking. I have spoken with County Executive Levy and he is trying to clear his schedule so that he can be with us.
continue reading "FIA Summer Meeting at the Pines"

Fire Island Homeowners Present Certificates to

Jeffrey Kassner, Marie Michel and Barbara Wiplush

The Fire Island Association (FIA) and a delegation of homeowners presented certificates of appreciation to three Brookhaven town employees at a meeting in Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko’s office on June 12.

From left; Councilman Mazzei, Barbara Wiplush, Jerry Stoddard, Marie Michel, Deputy Supervisor Walsh, Supervisor Lesko. 
continue reading "Fire Island Homeowners Present Certificates"

Here is Kelly Risotto’s latest update on piping plover nesting activity in Fire Island communities:

Davis Park

1.     Nest 1DP (FINS 5A).  Hatch date was estimated at 6/3, but as of 13:30 yesterday, all four eggs were still present and the plover was still incubating.  We will be out again today (June 4) to check. 

2.     Nest 2DP (FINS 6A).  Hatch date is estimated at tomorrow (6/5).  As of yesterday, bird was incubating and the second was seen foraging near the water east of the Casino.

3.     Land Use observed a LIPA truck (license M 3242) driving from the west end into the cut at Davis Park yesterday.  I emailed FINS yesterday afternoon, and Lindsay was hopeful that they could put up no driving signs today. 

4.     Dune fence has been installed at the crest of the dune in front  of the Casino to prevent beachgoers from traversing the dune in that area. 

Fire Island Pines

1.     Nest 1FIP (FINS 14A).  Bird incubating; second not observed.

Ocean Bay Park

1.     Nest 1CFI (FINS 1C).  As of 6/2, bird was incubating and the second was observed foraging nearby.  We did not make it out there yesterday due to rain.

Comments and questions can be directed to Ms. Risotto at Land Use Ecological Services, PO Box 1060, Riverhead, NY 11901; 631- 727-2400; fax -2605; mobile 631- 764-7983; krisotto@landuse.us

Construction activity on the community-sponsored beach renourishment project was concluded before midnight on April 29, within the time window of the project extension granted by the Seashore. The final days of construction activity were aided by calm seas and generally moderate weather. On the final days of pumping, with both dredges in operation, the contractor exceeded 42,000 cubic yards per day. The wildlife monitor observed an isolated pair of piping plovers foraging in an area to the west of the project termination point, but 300 yards from the area of operations. They subsequently left the area.

Kelly Risotto reported on April 27 to Town officials and representatives of the community erosion control taxing districts on the key role the Fire Island National Seashore played in completion of the project:

“As you are all aware, the Fire Island community beach nourishment project met with several delays since construction started on January 27. This meant permit extensions were required from all federal and state agencies for work continuing into April. As you know, the project was planned to be completed by April 25 in the Central reach (Ocean Bay Park to Summer Club). But bad weather and equipment delays, most notably the three-day weather delay during the week of April 17, meant an additional extension would be necessary. Land Use Ecological Services worked closely with Superintendent Soller, and a final extension through April 29 allowed Weeks Marine to complete the project in its entirety.

“We all owe a debt of gratitude to Superintendent Soller for his understanding of how important this project is to the participating communities. That the communities themselves agreed with Weeks Marine to change the project sequence to minimize potential impact on piping plovers may have been important to his decision, but his awareness that the communities considered completion of the project to be critical was equally so, in our opinion. Chuck Bowman and I believe everyone should show their appreciation to Mr. Soller for his understanding and support on this matter.”

Kelly Risotto, Senior Ecologist, Land Use Ecological Services

●

The following is an excerpt from an e-mail report to FIA Board Members on a last-day visit to the operation as it neared conclusion at the beach off Summer Club:

All that remains for the contractor is beach dressing (grading, etc.) and equipment removal. The latter will be done from the beach and will have to await a calm day. Today (May 1) was calm but strong east winds are predicted later as a cold front moves through the area.

The new beach is impressive. The Ocean Beach groins have been buried (at least for now) and there is a 25-foot wide dune with elevation of 13-15 feet. Looking west, there is a gap extending from the west edge of the Central reach (Summer Club) to the east edge of the Western reach (Lonelyville). Robbins Rest and Atlantique did not participate in the project, and no sand was placed in the federal area west of Summer Club. Steve says spreading will fill some of that gap, but the useful life of non-continuous projects is shorter than that of continuous ones.

Steve Keehn believes the projects now in place are “good for five or six years.” At first, waves will spread the newly constructed beach profile over the existing bottom (the engineers call this “equilibration”). In this process, the underwater toe of the beach is built up by natural wave and current forces, as illustrated by the diagram in the post that follows.  As Mr. Keehn points out, this apparent “loss” of the part of the beach that is visible is wholly expected. The amount of sand estimated to move offshore is compensated for by placing about twice as much sand as is expected to remain on the beach .

While the restored beach is doing its job of protecting the communities over the next few years, people interested in shore protection for the long run have a different job to do. That is to continue to press government at all levels to put aside their differences and join in a comprehensive program of coastal management for the benefit of the region as well as Fire Island.   

The purpose of the recently constructed project was to restore protective features of the beach and dune system in Ocean Bay Park for short-term storm protection and enhance recreation.  Periodic beach nourishment is a normal maintenance activity for waterfront communities that are subjected to erosion of their beach and dune systems.  Shoreline recession coupled with the April 2007 nor’easter had resulted in critical erosion in sections of Ocean Bay Park.

The beach and dune nourishment consisted of constructing a beach berm with an elevation of 7.9 ft NAVD and a dune elevation of 13.9 ft NAVD along the community’s length of 2,281 ft.  The beach is stabilized by a taper section to the east and similar fill projects to the west. The 13.9 ft NAVD dune elevation is the same as the 15.0 ft NGVD elevation discussed in the Corps studies, but is just a newer datum.  The NAVD datum approximates mean sea level.  Dune slopes were built to be 1 ft vertical to 4 ft horizontal between the dune crest and beach berm.

The constructed beach berm was built wider than the expected equilibrium profile.  The construction profile will lose up to half its width and reach the equilibrium profile in a period of months to a year, which is demonstrated in the figure below.  The equilibrium profile will intersect the existing bottom at approximately -19 ft NAVD, which is the seaward limit of the active beach profile.

Overall, 159,000 cubic yards of sand were placed onto the project area in Ocean Bay Park.  However, only 96.7% cubic yards of the placed volume was eligible for pay.  The project area will be surveyed periodically in order to monitor the performance of the project.