Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is under attack by locals for its
Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP), which suggests eliminating big parking
areas at the beach, moving them north on Assateague Island, instituting a
trolley service, and/or establishing a parking lot somewhere else. Essentially
those opposed, mainly islanders, see the refuge’s main interest for them as
maintaining a big parking area at the beach that they can drive to.
I have it on good authority from a person with major responsibility (but not on
the refuge staff) that the refuge manager, Lou Hinds, has received death
threats, refuge staff have been spat upon in the local supermarket, and
islanders sympathetic to the refuge and its plans have been intimidated.
Every few years the beach parking areas are destroyed or seriously damaged by
storms, resulting in great expense and effort to reestablish them. Much as I
sympathize with the refuge, I would have thought they would have anticipated
strong opposition to some of the suggestions in the CCP. Perhaps they did and
have the courage to go ahead with them anyway.
If you want to comment on the CCP the deadline is October 31. Mail your
comments to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, ATTN: CCP Coordinator, P. O.
Box 62, Chincoteague, Virginia 23336.
You may also send them via e-mail. Go to: chinco.fws.gov to see how to do
this. Or else just Google “Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge”
This site also gives the full text of the CCP as well as the latest CCP
newsletter. For some reason I have been unable to open this on my computer.
This hostility is the same sort of syndrome that led to the shooting of refuge
manager John H. Buckalew in the mid-1940s and to the vilification of a person I
know at Cape Hatteras who spoke up for Piping Plovers. This latter person had
nails dumped in his driveway, was refused service at local restaurants, and saw
wanted posters with his photograph posted at local businesses.
If these doings are not your idea of democracy then express your views as
suggested above, as well as to others in positions of power and influence.
Otherwise, we may end up in the hands of the Philistines and mob rule. I can’t
imagine how it feels to receive a death threat or other examples of the
hostility going on now.
-Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.
