3/17/2008

More Sand Dunes!!

Went out for a Sunday afternoon drive yesterday to continue to do my part in wasting some of our precious natural resources. Coming out of the Neck I looked over at the dunes and there perched on the very top of one of the bigger ones was a group of people numbering about eight. There they were, waving their arms about and taking in the view. And I'm sure loosening up a few more roots of the dune grass. Moving along the road, I come to a big white van parked there with this name emblazoned on the side; "Northeastern University, Department of Environmental Sciences". So it just made me wonder which department it was that goes around contributing to the distruction of dunes! And did we invite them? Or did they just show up of their own accord? Wind, waves, and our own home grown vandals do enough to them without importing them from wherever! TIFN

5 comments:

Sam said...

Sounds fishy to me ... but some university professors do have federal permits to conduct surveys, experiments, rescue animals, handle endangered species, and so forth. So it could be something like that or the crew from NE might have been ignorant of the ordinances and laws.

I know about the federal permit process because of the sea turtle and dolphin rescues we do down here in Texas. In theory I can't touch one or the jack-booted Feds and state wardens can haul me off to jail. But if I'm with a biologist who has the permit, I can touch them critters all day long (and yes, turtles do pooh!). Yup, I can even trample the dunes looking for 'em - sometimes sea turtles get lost up there.

Curiously, I noted over the years that BI has no dune walkovers in that area south of Town Beach. They might now but the problem isn't 8 people on a dune but 80,000 of them traipsing around on legal accesses or illegal paths. Building raised walkovers can actually help create dunes and hold them in. The low-lying paths create wind tunnels and areas where high surf can blow through.

Out latest experiment is to clean seaweed off the beaches and dump it on these "blow-holes" especially after we get a huge crop of it - one year we had Sargasso Weed three feet thick! People don't like walking in the nasty stinky stuff and will take the beach walkover. The organics from the seaweed, nasty as it seems, provides nutrients for the dune plants and critters.

That's some redneck engineering for ya - no PHD's involved! -sam

Old NFO said...

LOL- Welcome to the PC world... If you are a Greenie, you can do anything you want in the name of 'saving' the planet. We have the same problem with the whale watching tours...sigh...

Sam said...

I'll admit there is a bunch of anti enviro sentiment lately, especially with the Climate Change yelpers and whackos. I don't consider myself a "greenie" by any means. If I get the call that lots of turtles are dying and can I help on the boat, it's more like the Marines - just ask me where to go. Believe me, lifting 100 pounds of green slimy reptile out of the water on a frozen night is not my idea of being a tree hugger.

Yeah, found dead people on the beach but managed to save a few in the rip current (dang near drowned me). Anyway I thought my idea for walk-overs to certain parts of the beach wasn't all that bad, just something to think about. -sam

Old NFO said...

It makes perfect sense Sam, THAT is the problem... The eco-nazi's will find a reason to try to shut it down or shut the whole area down. I've seen this before in both Fl and Tx.

I have also seen this in my 'real' job, where the whale huggers have sued the Navy for coming to close to whales, while they literally run the whale watching boats to within 5 yards of Orcas, Blues and humpbacks so the tourists can get pictures (and obtw, they 'call' those tours scientific research).

Sam said...

Well if I can shift the topic a little, I've been watching the CRMC for years and their power seems truly incredible compared to many states, maybe up there with California. They can regulate freshwater ponds not even on the coast? I am all for conservation efforts but wow, they really got you Block Islanders by the proverbial nuts.

And then right when you needed them to do their REAL job, they flaked out on the Champlain's marina expansion deal. It's in three layers of deep-doo now. I thought they were supposed to first deny the permit and then come back and say "well, reduce the footprint and size here and there and we'll consider it again." Come on, that's the way it's supposed to work with them rascals.

You have to watch these enviro-weenies. Remember that ethanol made from corn was going to solve all of our problems, as the hippies said? Well look at what they did - about ruined the economy and muddied the Mississippi.