What access would there be to Long Beach in Stratford and Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport if those sites were acquired by the federal government and made part of a wildlife refuge?
Using the Milford Point unit of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge as an example, public access would be widely available, officials said this week.
"It has been open to all types of multiple uses, including fishing, boating and hunting, 24/7," said Milan Bull, of the Coastal Audubon Center at Milford Point.
The state Department of Environmental Protection manages the 840-acre Charles "Shang" Wheeler salt marsh and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, has direct control of Milford Point itself.
"There is no camping allowed on Milford Point," Bull said, "but hiking and fishing are. Literally hundreds of bluefish have been caught off the end of the point."
When the piping plovers — small sand-colored birds that lay their eggs in sand — are nesting, the immediate area around the nests are blocked off, said Bull and Timothy Chaucer, a naturalist and director of the Gulf Pond Nature Center in Milford. The plovers, on the national list of threatened species, are particularly affected by human disturbance to their nests, Chaucer said. "The refuge might close off an area during breeding season, but there are nine or 10 months where that isn't a factor at all." If the Bridgeport and Stratford beaches are eventually incorporated into the Stewart B. McKinney preserve, the situation there would be the same or similar, officials said. "We are mandated by law to allow certain recreational activities when we find them compatible with the refuge," said Rick Potvin, manager of the 70-mile long wildlife area that stretches from Greenwich to Westbrook.
"We need to be relevant to the community and we don't believe we'd be relevant if we didn't allow public access," he said.
Some Stratford and Bridgeport residents have expressed concern that if a proposed sale of Long Beach and Pleasure Beach to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service goes through, they may be kept away from the areas or barred from using them.
The Connecticut Post reported March 2 that the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Ipswich Bay in Massachusetts emphasizes that "wildlife comes first," an apt expression of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's philosophy.
An early plan developed by the wildlife service provides public access to Pleasure Beach and the Stratford property, via water taxis and a refurbished dock on the Bridgeport side. But some of the park-like features many say they want — camping spots, cookout areas, pavilions, picnic tables, volleyball nets and designated swimming areas — are not included in the early plan.
The wildlife service envisions a more passive experience, with visitors strolling along nature trails, walking on boardwalks and pausing at viewing stations and scenic overlooks.
Federal wildlife officials have said they will seek local public input before final decisions are made here.
Potvin said that although the purchase by the federal government for incorporation into the McKinney preserve is "far from a done deal," his staff has prepared a public access concept, anticipating what might be allowed at Pleasure Beach and Long Beach.
"Overnight outings might be allowed at Pleasure Beach, and there could also be a boardwalk" connecting the two sites," the federal official said. The docks might be redone to allow water taxi service to Pleasure Beach, he said.
There is no money appropriated for the purchase, expected to cost $10 million or more, Potvin said. "If we knew the land would be transferred to us, we would do a series of pre-acquisition surveys, asking the public what they'd like to see."
William Lipsky, who lives near Milford Point, said that access to the refuge area has never been an issue for him or his neighbors.
"There is a sign right on Milford Point that says there is public access to the water," he said. "There's never been a problem. But you almost never see anyone out there, not even the fish and wildlife service."
Lipsky said he and his Cedar Beach neighbors have had more problems with the DEP about speed limits for boats in the Wheeler Salt Marsh that the state manages than with federal wildlife officials.
Several years ago, concerned about erosion in the ecologically sensitive marsh, DEP employees posted a 5-mph limit and prohibited boats from leaving wakes.
That has meant that a trip through the marsh out to the mouth of the Housatonic River can take a half-hour or more, Lipsky said. "Five miles, even in a boat, is slow. I ended up selling my boat; it was taking too long" to get to the river.
But Lipsky gives the DEP high marks for strictly enforcing a ban on jet skis in the marsh. "You still get a few jerks that think that the law doesn't apply to them," he said.
Another issue that flared up in recent years in the federally protected area was fireworks. The town of Stratford agreed to move its July 4th fireworks display farther up the river to avoid disturbing the birds, officials said.
"The whole thing died down pretty quick," Lipsky recalled.
Bull, of the Audubon Center, said fireworks are still sometimes a problem, "especially regarding the threatened bird species. You have to be careful; you don't want 800 people trampling — literally — through a nesting area."
Canoes and kayaks are allowed into both the state-managed and federally managed areas of the wildlife refuge in Milford, without permits, officials said. Many people use the access point off Court Street; others put in at the state-owned boat ramp on Naugatuck Avenue.
"There are six priority public uses, and four of them are available at Milford Point," said Potvin, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Overnight camping is not allowed, although it would be, by permit, in other units of the refuge. You do not need a permit for a canoe."
There would be "extensive public involvement in the process of determining uses" for Long Beach and Pleasure Beach, should they be acquired for the McKinney refuge, Potvin said. "We would listen to what people want, and we'd do a compatibility study," he said.
