The following is from Fire Island National Seashore.
For more information go to the Links page and click on Fire Island
National Seashore/newsreleases.Beach Nourishment Projects To Begin on Fire Island;
Work Expected to be Completed by the end of March 2009
Several beach nourishment projects on Fire Island are scheduled to
begin by late December or early January. The projects, which are
being undertaken by Suffolk County and eleven Fire Island
communities, are expected to be completed by March 31, 2009.
continue reading "News From FINS on Community Beach Protection Projects"
Welcome to Fire Island …
a short trip by auto or train from New York City …
an even shorter ferry boat ride across Great South Bay … to miles of
Atlantic Ocean white sand beaches … home to the Fire Island National Seashore,
a few hundred year-round residents, and little else. Scattered over six of the island’s 32 miles are some 3,800 mostly seasonal single-family homes and businesses, including hotels and marinas. But no heliports, no gambling casinos – and no cars! Just the ocean, the bay, a wealth of interesting things to see and do ... a few fine restaurants … perfect pleasure for family, friends … and especially kids!
As the materials assembled here will attest, the Fire Island Association, in partnership with the National Seashore, works hard to preserve this place. Residents, owners, renters and visitors are welcome to join us.
ON SPENCER’S POINT
How Oceans Attract Us
By Bob Spencer
Alluring. Mysterious. Relaxing. Inspiring. Awesome. This is what an ocean offers.
And — sniffing the salt laden air, as one approaches the seaside, just adds to an ocean’s appeal.
I first became inspired by the ocean when in my teens, and I would sit by a summer sea in the evening and watch a full moon slowly rise out of the Atlantic. I promised myself then and there that I would seek to recreate such a feeling over my life span. Because it made my mind come alive, it becomes a catalyst of the imagination.
An ocean can reveal its infinite beauty – it can also raise its haunches in powerful strokes of stormy winds and tides to cause a show of respect.
ON SPENCER’S POINT
On the Nature of Fire Island
By
Bob Spencer
On a summer afternoon, I sometimes can imagine myself
suspended in mid-air about twenty feet above the oceanside
dunes of Fire Island.
Fire Island has many moods of a
simple order. On a clear sunny day, I can see many miles out to the blue sea
and miles along its sandy and grass-green shores as well.
continue reading "On the Nature of Fire Island"
By Bob Spencer
Many readers will be aware of some of the story about how Fire Island was saved from the paving of a highway, atop a sand-dike that had been first proposed by Robert Moses back in 1924, when he first became head of the Long Island State Park Commission. With each major storm after that, Bob Moses came back time and again with his same idea. But here, this reporter will try to set down a bit more on how the people of Fire Island, and just across the Great South Bay pulled off a little miracle.
continue reading "How Fire Island was Saved from being Paved Over"
As of January 3rd, 2006 Fire Island National Seashore (FINS) updated policies and procedures for reviewing and issuing permits and approvals for private bulkheads within the Seashore. This is to be the park policy until further revisions from either a new rule, plan, or procedure is developed.
The purpose of this guidance is to provide for consistent treatment and a clear understanding of compliance requirements and park policy concerning applications for special use permits for the repair and replacement of bulkheads on private property.
ON SPENCER’S POINT
Love for a Barrier Island by the Sea
By Bob Spencer
The ocean has a mystique for millions of people, who are drawn to it for many hidden reasons.
I caught a life-long urge to explore that mystique as a teenager one evening sitting on a beach in Maine staring at the full moon rising out of calm and distant ocean horizon. When I turned 29, I borrowed a dune-full of money and built a small house on the barrier island of Fire Island to espy those moon rises — and occasionally some sunrises. I had connected with something meaningful.
continue reading "Love For a Barrier Island by the Sea"
ON SPENCER’S POINT
The Seal Island Legend
By Bob Spencer
Four years ago, this reporter wrote here of a discovery on Fire Island, which is the current name for Seal Island — its Algonquin name. In this report it was revealed that a large collection of 40 wooden cases of wampum, along with some gold doubloons, silver pieces of eight, along with English coins and pieces of parchment were uncovered under an early 19th century site of one of the life saving station “rescue huts” built by volunteers along Fire Island in 1805. Four years ago it was estimated that this might be worth ten million dollars.
continue reading "The Seal Island Legend"
ON SPENCER’S POINT
“Whale — Off!”
By Bob Spencer
One of the earliest references to Fire Island I’ve ever found is for 1653 when Isaac Stratford set up whaling huts at Whalehouse Point on the Great South Beach, opposite Bellport, on what is now Fire Island. It is still called this today, and even has a private community ferry that chugs out there for recreational “beaching,” within the “Wilderness Area” of the Seashore. (It’s about halfway between Smith Point and Watch Hill.)
continue reading "Whale — Off!"
“The Beach Zone: Using Local LandUse Authority to Preserve Barrier Islands”
by Tiffany Eisberg and Jessica VanTine
A Critique by the Fire Island Association
The article whose title and authors appear above, appeared in
successive issues of Environmental Law in New York, Vol. 13, Nos. 10 and
11, October and November, 2002. It puts forward a misguided and
uninformed theory aimed at removing residential property from the Fire
Island National Seashore. The authors seem unaware of existing law on
the subject and are not informed as to the scientific or technical
background of the issues the article discusses.
continue reading "December 2002 “The Beach Zone”"
Note: When reporters write about shore protection projects for the first time, or the article seems biased, FIA sometrimes sends comments to public officials as well as to the reporter. The following is an example:
To: Interested Public Officials
The following comments expand on points made in the article, “A Creeping Sensation For Fire Island Owners” NY Times, Long Island Section, Sunday, October 14, 2001.
1. “Holes along Fire Island” Holes were in the sand bar offshore, not in the island itself. “Holes in the bar” allow wave energy to be focused, unblunted, on particular sections of the shoreline. If there are no holes (i.e., discontinuities) in the bar, it serves to remove most of the energy from waves by causing them to break well offshore.
continue reading "October 2001 A Times article gets it wrong"
Long Island
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