November 21st 2008 • HOME •

"Erosion" or "Shoreline Change"?

The anti-environmentalists have a poor understanding of Fire Island as a geological and ecological entity. Fortunately, there are real experts to turn to. We think the following quotations are helpful in putting things in better perspective:

The larger society expects that the applicable government institutions will seek to reduce vulnerability to future coastal storm losses through the building and rebuilding process. But one looks in vain to identify a comprehensive, effective mitigation initiative at any level of government. Instead, one encounters a patchwork of public and private authorities with little zeal for reducing vulnerability to coastal hazards. Although a number of legal tools are available to promote mitigation at Fire Island, our review found that few are in fact utilized, and the market largely prevails.

Rutherford Platt, "Disasters and Democracy: The Politics of Extreme Natural Events," p. 180.

BRAVING THE FORCES BY THE SEA

by Caryn Eve Murray

...[T]his slender barrier island . . .has been on the receiving end of elemental action from the start. Formed by the sand left behind by glacial retreat, the original island shape has been sculpted and resculpted over the centuries by the pull of ocean tides, in an action called "literal transport," and by powerful currents of wind, known as "aerial transport."

"A lot of people call it erosion, but we like to call it shoreline change. This is an ever-changing system . . . and the island is in constant motion," said Michael Bilecki, chief of resources management for the Fire Island National Seashore.

Violent action brings violent change, however. Storm overwash occurs, and when the salty, stormy ocean overtakes low-lying dunes, the seabeach knotweed, seabeach amaranth, sea oats and grasses there are killed, taking years to re-establish. Grasses return first, then the shrubs and, finally, the trees.

Meanwhile, such shore birds as the piping plovers and the common and least terns, which may later place their nests in small "scrapes in the sand" close to the dunes, flourish. . . .

Overwash brings another consideration: the likelihood of a breach - a physical break in the island's continuity lasting more than 48 hours - that prohibits passage on land and also can wipe out plants and animals.

The chain of barrier islands also provides the first landfall for migratory birds, which often head west toward Jamaica Bay after touching ground here. At various times of year, the land is a stopover for the sharp-shinned hawks, bald eagles and occasional ruby-throated hummingbirds in fall. And it is a summer respite for the mallards and the clapper rails on the bay. Occasionally a harbor seal will sun itself on the beach during the fall and in winter.

But spring and summer are the most active times for the birds, as well as small animals like fox, mink, rabbit and long-tailed weasel, most of which live in dens on the bay side. At night, deer bed down among the shrubs and trees.

The complete article is available at Newsday 's site.

In 1997 a special tax district in Fire Island Pines spent almost three million dollars to build artificial dunes. According to the National Park Service, seventy percent of that sand quickly washed out to sea during the winter of 1997-98. FIEC note: A little remained. Alas, much more of it has washed away since. There was substantial loss in May 1999, even though the weather was quite normal.

Updated 12 Dec 99