Federal Official Tells Southampton Trustees, 4x4 Owners Best Relief From Beach Closures Would Be Nesting Success for Plovers

Wildlife advocates held a rally outside Southampton Town Hall on Monday, voicing support for stringent protections for piping plovers. MICHAEL WRIGHT

Steve Sinkevich of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service spoke to the Southampton Town Trustees on Monday about the piping plover protection program the Trustees oversee on Southampton's ocean beaches. MICHAEL WRIGHT

Wildlife advocates held a rally outside Southampton Town Hall on Monday, voicing support for stringent protections for piping plovers. MICHAEL WRIGHT

John DiLeonardo of Humane Long Island asked the Trustees not to let up on their protection efforts for piping plovers. MICHAEL WRIGHT

Fran Adamczeski asked the Trustees if new areas of ocean beach could be opened to 4x4 vehicles when plover nests force the closure of the Picnic Area, as the beach at the far western end of Meadow Lane in Southampton Village, where 4x4 vehicles are allowed to drive on the beach in the summer, is known. MICHAEL WRIGHT

Melissa Hargraves of the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center in East Quogue said that protecting nature should take precedence over 4x4 access. MICHAEL WRIGHT

Southampton Town Trustee Chip Maran said that he sees the key to getting the Picnic Area open to vehicles by the start of the summer beach season in July is to protect the first clutches of eggs that plovers lay, usually in late May, so that their eggs hatch and the babies fledge safely and leave the area. MICHAEL WRIGHT