Southampton Town Trustees Reopen The 'Picnic Area' To Vehicles

On Saturday, the Southampton Town Trustees reopened the “Picnic Area”—the only ocean-facing beach in the town that permits driving during the day in the summer—after it was closed for a month to protect the federally endangered piping plovers nesting there.

The 2,000-foot stretch of beach, located on the western end of Meadow Lane, was closed to all off-road vehicles on June 25 because of the presence of piping plover eggs.

Piping plovers are listed as a federally endangered species, and each summer, they have been known to lay their eggs along beaches where off-road enthusiasts like to drive.

The “Picnic Area” was closed off because three pairs of plovers laid eggs that hatched within 1,000 meters of the popular stretch of beach.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services provides guidelines that municipalities are encouraged to follow to avoid dislocating or harming the birds, and blocking off 1,000 meters in both directions of the eggs is a measure suggested by the federal agency.

Once the chicks hatch, the tiny plovers are responsible for feeding themselves and run between the sandy shore and the water to find food.

The birds are often difficult to see because they blend in with the sand, so to prevent harming the birds while they learn to fledge and fly, areas are closed off to vehicles.

Some beach enthusiasts were upset over the beach closure, with many complaining that they purchase beach driving permits from the town each year and only get to use them for a couple of months because of the plovers.

Last Friday, Town Trustee Ed Warner said the “Picnic Area” would be reopened to driving on Saturday morning because the plovers had fledged.

He gave a great deal of credit to piping plover monitors who watched over the birds while the beach was closed.

“It all works out when we all work together,” Town Trustee Scott Horowitz said in a text message this week.