The previous Newsletter, moaning about the delay in naming a new Superintendent, was no sooner in the mail than Dennis Reidenbach, Director of the National Park Service’s Northeast Region, announced that Chris Soller was his choice to lead Fire Island National Seashore.

continue reading "Chris Soller Named Superintendent of FINS"

Highlights

Search for a Superintendent

Mike Reynolds’ replacement is yet to be named.

Protecting the Fire island Shoreline

Thanks to some Members of Congress, some progress was made this summer.

Erosion Agencies Want New Rules

Too much is at risk on Long Island to allow this to happen.

Ferry Fares Going Up

You can thank the oil price increases.

Ireland Case Dismissed

An expert witness wins the point for Suffolk County. Is this the best way to solve policy disputes?

continue reading "Summer 2008 Newsletter"

By Bob Spencer

Many readers will be aware of some of the story about how Fire Island was saved from the paving of a highway, atop a sand-dike that had been first proposed by Robert Moses back in 1924, when he first became head of the Long Island State Park Commission. With each major storm after that, Bob Moses came back time and again with his same idea. But here, this reporter will try to set down a bit more on how the people of Fire Island, and just across the Great South Bay pulled off a little miracle.
continue reading "How Fire Island was Saved from being Paved Over"

As of January 3rd, 2006 Fire Island National Seashore (FINS) updated policies and procedures for reviewing and issuing permits and approvals for private bulkheads within the Seashore. This is to be the park policy until further revisions from either a new rule, plan, or procedure is developed.

The purpose of this guidance is to provide for consistent treatment and a clear understanding of compliance requirements and park policy concerning applications for special use permits for the repair and replacement of bulkheads on private property.

“The Beach Zone: Using Local LandUse Authority to Preserve Barrier Islands”
by Tiffany Eisberg and Jessica VanTine
A Critique by the Fire Island Association

The article whose title and authors appear above, appeared in
successive issues of Environmental Law in New York, Vol. 13, Nos. 10 and
11, October and November, 2002. It puts forward a misguided and
uninformed theory aimed at removing residential property from the Fire
Island National Seashore. The authors seem unaware of existing law on
the subject and are not informed as to the scientific or technical
background of the issues the article discusses.
continue reading "December 2002 “The Beach Zone”"

Note: When reporters write about shore protection projects for the first time, or the article seems biased, FIA sometrimes sends comments to public officials as well as to the reporter. The following is an example:

To: Interested Public Officials

The following comments expand on points made in the article, “A Creeping Sensation For Fire Island Owners” NY Times, Long Island Section, Sunday, October 14, 2001.

1.               “Holes along Fire Island” Holes were in the sand bar offshore, not in the island itself. “Holes in the bar” allow wave energy to be focused, unblunted, on particular sections of the shoreline. If there are no holes (i.e., discontinuities) in the bar, it serves to remove most of the energy from waves by causing them to break well offshore.
continue reading "October 2001 A Times article gets it wrong"

The Fire Island Association was not a party to the lawsuit brought by the New York Coastal Partnership, described in the following complaint. The FIA Board of Directors concluded that, while Board members may, as individuals, support the factual assertions in the complaint, FIA should not be a party to it as doing so could interfere with necessary communications between our organization and the various state and federal agencies named in the suit. Accordingly, the complaint is provided strictly as a matter of information.
continue reading "June 2001 - NY Coastal Partnership Case"

The NPCA press release concerning the Fire Island National Seashore being one of the ten most endangered parks has several serious errors:

1. The Corps of Engineers is not “proposing” anything. At a cost of several million dollars and several years of study, the Corps responded to a request by Members of Congress and the State of New York to survey the south shore of Long Island and recommend methods of reducing storm damage. The Corps’ EIS was the subject of a public hearing in January 2000 where it was broadly supported by residents in the project area and in areas of the Long Island mainland that would be benefited by a stronger barrier island. In November 1999, the State indicated it expected to support the project if no new information arose either at the hearing or in the 30-day comment period. Nothing new arose, but the state has yet even to comment officially.
continue reading "FINS Named Among America’s Ten Most Endangered Parks!??"

The proposed Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) for Long Island’s south shore estuary is disappointing to those who hoped it would provide a blueprint for improved management practices. Instead, the plan simply identifies areas of concern that were already known to localities well before the South Shore Estuary Reserve (SSER) Advisory Council began its work. By seeming to promise assistance to localities that it was not prepared to deliver, the Council may have actually impeded some local work from going forward.
continue reading "March 2001 South Shore Estuary Reserve Excludes FIA"

General

The following comments reflect the views of the Fire Island Association and relate, except where noted, to the Fire Island National Seashore, within whose boundaries there are some 3,850 properties and businesses. FIA, with over 1,600 paid members, represents the interests of these owners. As the comments note, it is the declared intention of some government agencies and environment groups to remove existing homes from communities that were protected by the Fire Island National Seashore Act, and this was a frequent subject of discussion during the workshop­. The Fire Island Association believes this is unnecessary, as well as violative of the statute, since well-established methods of beach nourishment can protect existing structures, while newly applicable state law provides adequate assurance that the approved density levels will not be exceeded. Accordingly, FIA intends to use all measures at its disposal to resist any effort to gain control of Fire Island property other than from a willing conveyor.
Opening Remarks by Col. William H. Pearce, NY District Engineer, USACE
continue reading "February 2001 “Non-Structural Solutions” Are Neither"