Comment Period For Controversial Monomoy Plan Ends Today

CHATHAM – Today marks another important date in the ongoing Monomoy Wildlife Refuge saga.

It is the final day of the review period for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Comprehensive Conservation Plan, which includes the claim of the submerged land and open water on the west side of Monomoy. Chatham opposes that claim, saying it threatens fishing and shellfishing rights.

Selectmen will wait until the plan is finalized before deciding whether to take legal action.

“Unfortunately [the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s] agenda doesn’t take into consideration the historic uses of people, the economies of local communities and those types of things that I think are important to a lot of us,” former Selectman Sean Summers said of the claim.

This is an updated plan, which includes some notable changes from the original proposal. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service originally planned to claim over 700 acres of South Beach, but decided against following through on that proposal.

Chatham officials were upset with the original plan and lobbied local representatives in Washington D.C. in April.

The purpose of the comprehensive conservation plan is to guide refuge management over the next 15 years and include goals, objectives and strategies for refuge programs. The plan also details the combination of actions that will be implemented to protect species, manage habitats and support public recreational uses.