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Photo Emily Sussman
Shellfisherman Bethany Walton looks on as Natural Resources Officer Henry Lind speaks out Monday against allowing four-wheel-drive access to shellfish grants. |
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Vehicle access request for shellfish grants put on hold
By Emily Sussman
Banner Staff
EASTHAM — Shellfish grant holder Bethany Walton asked the selectmen here Monday night to allow four-wheel-drive vehicle access to one of the town’s aquaculture areas at First Encounter Beach. The reason, she said, was that the community’s shellfishermen needed an easier way to remove their heavy gear at the beginning and end of the season. After hearing town Natural Resources Officer Henry Lind’s take on the matter, however, the selectmen agreed to put off granting Walton’s request.
Throughout her presentation to the selectmen, Walton tried to put to rest any potential concerns about the impact of four-wheel-drives on a segment of the town’s bay beaches. With respect to the environmental impact of vehicles, she assured the board that the towns of Wellfleet and Dennis routinely allow such access to shellfish grants without significant problems.
“We’re not asking this to bring gear on and off on a regular basis,” Walton said, to clarify. “It would only be for two very small windows of time, in the fall and the spring.” Walton also emphasized that the area in question would be near First Encounter Beach, which she said was already being used as an access point. “[The vehicles] would not be going over any private property,” she added.
In addition, Walton addressed the potential risk of vehicles getting stuck out in the flats, but pointed out that the police department routinely uses ATVs over the area in question without incident. The “unsightliness” factor of vehicles on the beach would also be a minor issue, Walton said, since the shellfishermen would not be driving out to pick up their gear during the summer season.
Selectman Ken Collins said he was in favor of Walton’s request. “We either support these grants or destroy them,” he said. Eastham has lost a number of shellfish grant holders, he said, “because they can’t service their grants without a source of over-the-sand [vehicles].”
But Lind said he had a number of concerns about Walton’s request. “I have observed pickup trucks literally buried in that area,” he said. “It is a very dynamic kind of habitat, … it looks like it’s very secure and you can ride on it, and a few seconds later it’s quicksand, and you’re buried.”
Lind also pointed out that Eastham’s bayside area was a Massachusetts Area of Environmental Concern, and as such, protection of the habitat should be a chief priority for the town. Furthermore, he said, the Nature Conservancy was the area’s abutting property, and the organization has been “pretty reluctant” to endorse any motor vehicle activity across the flats.
“I would like to explore other approaches … for a mutually agreeable solution,” Lind said in conclusion.
But Collins was adamant that Walton’s request was a necessary one for the town’s shellfishermen. “Without allowing people to service their grants, they’re dead in the water,” he said. Addressing Lind, he said, “there’s no way in creation that [Walton and the other shellfishermen] could ever service grants by boat. That’s sheer stupidity, and you know that.”
The selectmen ultimately agreed to wait for Lind to meet with the town’s shellfishermen to determine where they stood on the matter. That meeting, Town Administrator Sheila Vanderhoef said, should take place no later than Nov. 1.
esussman@provincetownbanner.com
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Oct 6th, 2005