THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 9, 1994 TAG: 9411080093
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
Emotions over the closure of trails around the ponds at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge during waterfowl season are polarizing the wrong folks.
I say we're all in this together. The refuge, False Cape State Park and the nature lovers should be on the same side, the side of the ducks.
No question that the state would like the public to have trail access through the refuge to reach False Cape State Park. The park's only other land access, a hike down the beach, can be strenuous and foreboding.
But I keep reminding myself that without the thousands of ducks and geese that winter in the Back Bay area, there would be no reason for the refuge to exist at all. Nor would False Cape State Park and its public be so adamant about losing their access through the refuge in waterfowl season.
It's a Catch-22. Without the waterfowl, access to the winter landscape in the Back Bay area would mean little to any of us in terms of visitation. We all love it precisely for what the refuge is trying to protect.
That's why we need some creative thinking rather than polarization. But creativity is hard down here in the trenches when we have leadership from the likes of Kirby Burch, State Department of Conservation and Recreation director who oversees False Cape. Burch doesn't appear to be generating a climate that will generate a solution.
It appears rhetoric, not thinking, is his modus operandi. In reacting to the refuge's trail closure, Burch behaved like a child who stamps his foot and says he hates his mother when he doesn't get what he wants. I would hope we could work together not confront each other - at least locally - and look at the trail closing as a challenge to find truly wonderful ways to use False Cape.
Is it too pie in the sky to think of a small flat-bottomed boat, that would ferry folks for a fee across Back Bay to False Cape on barrier island educational specials? The boat could leave from a landing off Princess Anne Road and cross the bay to one of the False Cape State Park landings. Perhaps the boat could be operated jointly by the federal government, the state, the city and possibly the Virginia Marine Science Museum.
It could operate on winter weekends, and in the summer it might be a preferable alternative to the hike through the refuge, even though the road would be open to the public. Importantly for the economy, the ferry would be a draw for tourists interested in nature adventures.
A program such as that would be a prime opportunity to educate folks about the ecology and importance of Back Bay itself. If Burch is an example of the new wave of bureaucrats coming into environmental positions, public education by federal, state and city folks here will be the only way to preserve this beautiful area for both humans and ducks.
It frightens me to think that isolating the public from Back Bay Refuge now might provide the excuse of lack of public interest to cut the budget in years to come.
In fact, judging from Burch's recent criticism of the refuge's management efforts, it would appear that management efforts on the part of the state to encourage ducks and geese at False Cape already could be threatened.
The refuge has one educational event in the works, its annual senior citizen bus tour in December, said Joe McCauley acting refuge director. The refuge also is thinking for the first time about a bus tour that would be open to everybody later in the winter. It's said that waterfowl are not as disturbed by vehicular traffic as they are by hikers and bikers so maybe these tours would be a compromise solution.
All of the to-do reminds me of Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge on Knotts Island. For as long as I can remember, the refuge impoundments there have been closed to the public during waterfowl season. Mackay Island's winter restrictions used to make the Back Bay refuge look like Disney World.
On the other hand the closure offers real advantages to those who are truly interested in waterfowl. Mackay Island opens its ponds to the public for one day only in December. On ``open roads'' day, particularly early before the traffic has made the waterfowl skitterish, visitors can see more birds than they ordinarily would have ever seen at Back Bay. By the end of open roads day, the waterfowl usually have taken flight.
``You just can't have a lot of people around waterfowl,'' said Ken Merritt, Mackay Island Refuge manager. ``You lose one or the other.''
I don't want to lose either.
P.S. Waterfowl are the theme of the Veterans' Day holiday weekend, Friday through Sunday, at the Virginia Marine Science Museum. Back Bay Wildfowl Guild members will be demonstrating their craft, and there will be special programming and activities for children. Call 437-4949 for information.
TAKE PART IN AN ACTUAL MILITARY MUSTER at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Adam Thoroughgood House. Admission $2.
BEE BALM, or monarda, a native American herb, is the topic of discussion at an Herb Society of America meeting from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Norfolk's Botanical Gardens. MEMO: Call me with your thoughts about how to visit False Cape State Park this
winter and also with your ideas about where else to go to watch
waterfowl. My INFOLINE number is 640-5555. Enter category 2290. Or, send
a computer message to my Internet address: mbarrow(AT)infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: File photo
It's a Catch-22. Without the waterfowl, access to the winter
landscape in Back Bay would mean little to any of us in terms of
visitation.
BIRD WATCHING
Where will you go to watch waterfowl this winter? Since Back Bay
National Wildlife Refuge closed most of its trails for the season,
we're looking for other places you go to see snow geese, swan and
ducks. Call Mary Reid Barrow's INFOLINE number, 640-5555, category
2290, or write her at 4565 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach,
Va., 23462.
by CNB