Endangered Piping Plovers nesting in areas used to load fireworks onto beach
HAMPTON - June 10, 2020 - Phase Two of Hampton Beach's reopening plan included the start of fireworks, held weekly on Wednesday nights, starting on July 1st. Unfortunately, some local birds had other plans. The Piping Plover, known by regular beach-goers as a protected species because they are found near the dunes at Hampton Beach State Park, where they are blocked off each year to the public. Last year was a record year for pairs of plovers to breed; this year should be even better. And the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game would like to keep it that way.
The problem is, while the beach was closed, the Piping Plovers strayed from the dunes and nested on the beach. Where on the beach? In an area - two areas, in fact - that will prevent state trucks and fireworks crews from setting up fireworks on Wednesday nights. What the Hampton Beach Village District was hoping for - a July 1st opening night of fireworks - may not be allowed to happen.
Piping plovers are legally protected in New Hampshire. Possession and take (which includes harming, harassing, injuring and killing) is illegal. The fine if caught doing any of those things, is $25,000. That means they cannot be moved. They must be allowed to nest and incubate their eggs; and when hatched, chicks are the size of a cotton ball. That makes them easy to step on or crush them by driving over them.
Once hatched, they may not be disturbed for 20 additional days. This will take us well into the summer season making it difficult to say when - or if - fireworks will be allowed this summer."Fireworks are a staple of the summer season. People drive here just to watch them on Wednesdays. It's sad that we could lose the traditional fireworks after all we have already lost this year," said Lisa Martineau, Co-Director of Marketing for the Hampton Beach Village District. "Hopefully we can find a solution. I know the commissioners are doing everything they can to find a way to make them happen."
For more information about the Hampton Beach Village District, please visit hamptonbeach.org or our Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/HamptonNHBeach.
Courtesy of the Hampton Beach Village District.