April 27, 2024 • 11 mins
Erosion on Cape Cod is certainly nothing new, but in recent years, the Atlantic Ocean has been chewing up more and more of the shoreline. These tidal troubles are forcing communities to think ahead to a future without some of their most beloved shoreline properties, and that problem is front and center at the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, where the consistent erosion has forced the Fish and Wildlife Service to demolish their long-standing Visitor Center. Refuge Manager Rick Nye talks with Nichole this week about their decision to take down the building, his concerns for protected wildlife, and how they're trying to get ahead of Mother Nature.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston.This is New England Weekend. Each and
every week we come together here wetalk about all the topics important to you
and the place where you live.It's so good to be back with you
again this week. I'm Nicole Davis. Now, we've done many a story
on WBZ News Radio in recent weeksabout the big storms that have come through
over the past few months, andthey've caused some pretty big problems on our
(00:28):
local beaches. Salisbury Beach the onethat's made some big headlines around the country.
You might know the story residents truckingin more than six hundred thousand dollars
worth of sand, only to havethe vast majority of it taken out in
just a few days from one ofthose aforementioned storms. On the Cape,
erosion has been chewing away at thebluffs and dunes for many, many years.
Experts say sea level rise and thosestronger storms are combining to speed up
(00:52):
that devastating process. It's being felteach and every day in Chatham at the
Monamoy National Wildlife Refuge. Now,if you don't know the refuge, it's
no for the iconic Montamoi light.All the seals that come hang out in
the summer. There's hundreds of acresof stunning land to hike and bike through.
But unfortunately, Monomoy is also frontand center to some of the worst
erosion impacting the cape, and toget ahead of it, a decision was
(01:14):
recently made to tear down the longstanding visitor center well before the Atlantic Ocean
could get to it. First.Refuge manager Rick and I is here to
talk with us about what happened andwhy they made this move, what comes
next? Rick, thank you somuch for the time. Let's start here.
When did you first realize, Okay, things are bad here, we're
going to have to make a move. So, yeah, it's kind of
an interesting story because it's like whendo you start telling it or what time
(01:40):
frame do you start telling it from. So, I mean, the most
sniffing impacts started back in twenty nineteen, and there's a series of events prior
to that. But in twenty nineteenthere was a Barrier Island about half a
mile off the shoreline, and thatwas protecting us from direct impacts on the
Atlantic Ocean. And so once thatBarry Island at the time was called Middle
(02:02):
Island had eroded away, the bottomof our bluff was then receiving the full
force of the Atlantic Ocean plus thecurrent that runs down and around the shore
line of kit Cod, and soby twenty nineteen. Prior to twenty nineteen,
the rate of erosion on our bluffwas around two feet a year.
(02:23):
Twenty nineteen it jumped to fifteen feet, and then since twenty twenty it's been
around thirty feet a year, Soan alarming rate of loss. And so
we're trying to keep ahead of itas it turns away our bluff. How
much of the bluff so far hasbeen taken off at this point? Do
you know? Yeah? So yeah, another yes, Like you know,
(02:46):
when do you want to start measuringfrom? So one of the ones we
kind of used, we go backto twenty fourteen. That's I guess that
seems to be a good point thatpeople use since then as about one hundred
and thirty feet of it, becausethat's when you know, we kind of
maybe started noticing issues that we shouldstart addressing. Oh my gosh. All
right, So then obviously you've gotbuildings, you've got operations out there.
(03:07):
When do you get to the pointwhere you're like, okay, we have
to either pack up and leave ortake this whole thing down. When did
it become very apparent that something hadto be done About three years ago,
I mean even back actually back intwenty fifteen, we said we need to
start thinking about it. And then, yeah, when it became apparent was
when we started seeing like trees fallingand we had to remove the staircase,
(03:32):
which was just just over three yearsago. Actually almost exactly three years ago,
we had to remove a staircase.And so by that time we were
already removing structures and then so thenit was thinking about what's next. And
it was about this time three yearsago we told the Weather Service they had
(03:53):
a building there, that they needto start thinking about it. And then
we said, nope, nope,you need to actually do it. You
need to remove it now. Soyou know, it just sort of it
was building by building, and eachone we learned, Okay, thirty feet
was a little close, forty fivefeet, no, no, let's just
start calling it ninety feet because itwas just coming at us. That's a
(04:15):
lot to handle. I remember actuallywhen the Weather Service had to close down
the outpost out there for the weatherballoons and so on and so forth,
We actually had them on the showto talk about that, and they were
saying the same thing, like itjust came hard and fast, and all
of a sudden, we just hadto go. So, I mean,
how do you then pack up everythingand get out of there? It must
be quite the process to remove avisitor center that's been there for decades,
(04:40):
we having been through it before withlike our dormitory. You know, I
packed up a lot of stuff outof that dormitory and I stuffed it into
the visitor center, thinking well,we'll need this one day and then and
then then when it came time tosay, oh, now we can't keep
it in the visitor center, whatare we going to do with all the
(05:00):
kitchen wear and the bunk beds thatI saved? And so we just started
having to make hard decisions like doesit cost us more to replace this in
three years when we get a dormagain versus storing this stuff, or is
there another refuge I could use it? So we we farmed out a lot
of materials to other sites. Werecycled a lot of materials, and just
(05:24):
you know, it was an iterativeprocess because you couldn't just do it in
one take. The interive process ofyou know, what made the cut to
stay and what made the cut togo, And then we kept doing it
again and again until we knew aboutthree months out that the demo's going to
take place, and just really hadto decide how much we're going to save
(05:46):
and where we're going to put it. And now that the demolition is underway,
where are you going to be operatingout of? I mean, what
comes next for the potential of avisitor center really for you being the guy
who manages this whole refuge. Yeah, where I'm operating up from right now
is my dining room table. Butthis is also the season we're coming into
(06:06):
the season where we spend more thanhalf our time out on the wildlife Refuge.
And I think it's important to remember, you know, this is a
two to three acre spot from whereour management facilities were, but we still
have seven one acre wildlife refuge andwilderness area to take care of, and
(06:29):
so that's that's, you know,our work just focuses on that. So
we'll spend like we do every summerseason, spring, summer and fall out
there taking care of the islands,doing our work from the boats and on
the island and homes or where mycoworkers and I are just working, you
know, teleworking at averhomes, andwe did have a little bit experience that
(06:50):
a few years ago. So andthen we're working with partners to find a
new spot. So we've well,let me say this, we're working with
partners finding new spot or anybody anybodywho gives us a point or ay to
consider this property so we might goonto a lease. Hopefully this fall will
(07:13):
be working in the offices more oftenand then continue to look for parcel to
purchase or billing to purchase. You'vebeen working for the refuge for a long
time, from what I've been ableto gather, tell me what it feels
like for you watching all this happenover the years, watching the erosion get
worse and worse, and then havingto demolish this center where you've been working
at it for so long. What'sit like for you personally as somebody who's
(07:35):
so connected to this refuge. Well, that's an interesting My take is perhaps
unique in that my very first weekas the Monomoye National Wildlife Refuge Manager was
the week they tore down the weatherstation. So that's more or less what
I've known since I've been here,and I was actually thinking about that.
Even at my previous refuge, wehad to demolish a couple structures, ones
(07:56):
that we weren't using but just neededto go. So kind of been what
I've gotten used to. Now wehave a few properties, and we're just
trying to you know, we're usingthe best science to adapt and mitigate for
what's happening, and and you knowtry to you know, use those you
know, use that science to makethese decisions. That's just that's just how
(08:20):
I approach it is. I can'tstop the Atlantic oceans, so I gotta
do the next thing I can do. Unfortunately, you're right about that.
We are just mere humans. There'snothing we can do about that. Unfortunately.
So then what comes next? Imean, you said that you've got
obviously lots of time out in therefuge, and you know when it comes
(08:41):
to this erosion, I mean,what other impacts are we seeing around the
refuge, not just with the visitorcenter but overall. Yeah, the next
thing that we're looking at in termsof erosion impacts are the rest of Mores
Islands. So on Morris Island,we have this two acre parcel that was
is are manager facilities and visitor center. But then on the southern end of
(09:03):
Morison there's another forty acre parcel thathas what a four acre saltwater marsh and
some dune habitat. So that's thenext thing I'm gonna be looking at,
is what might be happening there that'scritical habitat for some shorebirds federally danger pipe
and plover, and some salt marshsparrows. So try to to see what
(09:24):
I need to do for them,for those species and for that parcel.
And so yeah, I just startto look at what we can figure out
there. And who are you workingwith to get all that done? I'm
assuming the National Weather Service. I'massuming there's so many different types of marine
scientists and scientist groups on cape CODs. I'm sure you've got a lot of
help. We do, yeah,a lot of I mean, the town
(09:48):
of Chatham does an aerial survey everyyear, so I work with the town.
The town has geologists, a coupleof geologists. I work with other
experts, coastal geomorphologists. The SchmalerService has a couple of hydrologists on staff,
so I work with a variety ofpartners. Who have expertise in these
areas, as well as those inour own service, and then all of
(10:11):
our biologists who know the best thingsto do for the species that we're trying
to protect. So then when itcomes to visitors this summer obviously a big
change when the visitor center's not goingto be there for them. What are
some pieces of advice you might havefor visitors who might come to Montamoy and
notice the difference, or what doyou want visitors to keep in mind when
they show up. Well, oneof the things when they show up is
(10:35):
even though our visitor center is gone, our Friends of Montamoy group will still
have an information booth up there andthey'll be there from ten to four every
day to talk to people. Butyou know, the main thing to see
is that the refuge is still there. We're still doing the work taking care
of you know, that seventy nineacres of wilderness. And you know,
(10:58):
and most of the people, peoplewho released the ones from Cape are familiar
with the Cape. They know changeis constant out here, and and said
this is just a very stark reminderof that. But you know, that's
the main thing is that the trailis still open, and the refuge is
still there and the friends will bethere to talk to them about it.
(11:20):
Beautiful, all right, Rick,thank you so much for your time.
Sure, thank you. Have asafe and healthy weekend, and please join
me again next week for another editionof the show. I'm Nicole Davis from
WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
From WBZ News Radio in Boston.This is New England Weekend. Each and
every week we come together here wetalk about all the topics important to you
and the place where you live.It's so good to be back with you
again this week. I'm Nicole Davis. Now, we've done many a story
on WBZ News Radio in recent weeksabout the big storms that have come through
over the past few months, andthey've caused some pretty big problems on our
(00:28):
local beaches. Salisbury Beach the onethat's made some big headlines around the country.
You might know the story residents truckingin more than six hundred thousand dollars
worth of sand, only to havethe vast majority of it taken out in
just a few days from one ofthose aforementioned storms. On the Cape,
erosion has been chewing away at thebluffs and dunes for many, many years.
Experts say sea level rise and thosestronger storms are combining to speed up
(00:52):
that devastating process. It's being felteach and every day in Chatham at the
Monamoy National Wildlife Refuge. Now,if you don't know the refuge, it's
no for the iconic Montamoi light.All the seals that come hang out in
the summer. There's hundreds of acresof stunning land to hike and bike through.
But unfortunately, Monomoy is also frontand center to some of the worst
erosion impacting the cape, and toget ahead of it, a decision was
(01:14):
recently made to tear down the longstanding visitor center well before the Atlantic Ocean
could get to it. First.Refuge manager Rick and I is here to
talk with us about what happened andwhy they made this move, what comes
next? Rick, thank you somuch for the time. Let's start here.
When did you first realize, Okay, things are bad here, we're
going to have to make a move. So, yeah, it's kind of
an interesting story because it's like whendo you start telling it or what time
(01:40):
frame do you start telling it from. So, I mean, the most
sniffing impacts started back in twenty nineteen, and there's a series of events prior
to that. But in twenty nineteenthere was a Barrier Island about half a
mile off the shoreline, and thatwas protecting us from direct impacts on the
Atlantic Ocean. And so once thatBarry Island at the time was called Middle
(02:02):
Island had eroded away, the bottomof our bluff was then receiving the full
force of the Atlantic Ocean plus thecurrent that runs down and around the shore
line of kit Cod, and soby twenty nineteen. Prior to twenty nineteen,
the rate of erosion on our bluffwas around two feet a year.
(02:23):
Twenty nineteen it jumped to fifteen feet, and then since twenty twenty it's been
around thirty feet a year, Soan alarming rate of loss. And so
we're trying to keep ahead of itas it turns away our bluff. How
much of the bluff so far hasbeen taken off at this point? Do
you know? Yeah? So yeah, another yes, Like you know,
(02:46):
when do you want to start measuringfrom? So one of the ones we
kind of used, we go backto twenty fourteen. That's I guess that
seems to be a good point thatpeople use since then as about one hundred
and thirty feet of it, becausethat's when you know, we kind of
maybe started noticing issues that we shouldstart addressing. Oh my gosh. All
right, So then obviously you've gotbuildings, you've got operations out there.
(03:07):
When do you get to the pointwhere you're like, okay, we have
to either pack up and leave ortake this whole thing down. When did
it become very apparent that something hadto be done About three years ago,
I mean even back actually back intwenty fifteen, we said we need to
start thinking about it. And then, yeah, when it became apparent was
when we started seeing like trees fallingand we had to remove the staircase,
(03:32):
which was just just over three yearsago. Actually almost exactly three years ago,
we had to remove a staircase.And so by that time we were
already removing structures and then so thenit was thinking about what's next. And
it was about this time three yearsago we told the Weather Service they had
(03:53):
a building there, that they needto start thinking about it. And then
we said, nope, nope,you need to actually do it. You
need to remove it now. Soyou know, it just sort of it
was building by building, and eachone we learned, Okay, thirty feet
was a little close, forty fivefeet, no, no, let's just
start calling it ninety feet because itwas just coming at us. That's a
(04:15):
lot to handle. I remember actuallywhen the Weather Service had to close down
the outpost out there for the weatherballoons and so on and so forth,
We actually had them on the showto talk about that, and they were
saying the same thing, like itjust came hard and fast, and all
of a sudden, we just hadto go. So, I mean,
how do you then pack up everythingand get out of there? It must
be quite the process to remove avisitor center that's been there for decades,
(04:40):
we having been through it before withlike our dormitory. You know, I
packed up a lot of stuff outof that dormitory and I stuffed it into
the visitor center, thinking well,we'll need this one day and then and
then then when it came time tosay, oh, now we can't keep
it in the visitor center, whatare we going to do with all the
(05:00):
kitchen wear and the bunk beds thatI saved? And so we just started
having to make hard decisions like doesit cost us more to replace this in
three years when we get a dormagain versus storing this stuff, or is
there another refuge I could use it? So we we farmed out a lot
of materials to other sites. Werecycled a lot of materials, and just
(05:24):
you know, it was an iterativeprocess because you couldn't just do it in
one take. The interive process ofyou know, what made the cut to
stay and what made the cut togo, And then we kept doing it
again and again until we knew aboutthree months out that the demo's going to
take place, and just really hadto decide how much we're going to save
(05:46):
and where we're going to put it. And now that the demolition is underway,
where are you going to be operatingout of? I mean, what
comes next for the potential of avisitor center really for you being the guy
who manages this whole refuge. Yeah, where I'm operating up from right now
is my dining room table. Butthis is also the season we're coming into
(06:06):
the season where we spend more thanhalf our time out on the wildlife Refuge.
And I think it's important to remember, you know, this is a
two to three acre spot from whereour management facilities were, but we still
have seven one acre wildlife refuge andwilderness area to take care of, and
(06:29):
so that's that's, you know,our work just focuses on that. So
we'll spend like we do every summerseason, spring, summer and fall out
there taking care of the islands,doing our work from the boats and on
the island and homes or where mycoworkers and I are just working, you
know, teleworking at averhomes, andwe did have a little bit experience that
(06:50):
a few years ago. So andthen we're working with partners to find a
new spot. So we've well,let me say this, we're working with
partners finding new spot or anybody anybodywho gives us a point or ay to
consider this property so we might goonto a lease. Hopefully this fall will
(07:13):
be working in the offices more oftenand then continue to look for parcel to
purchase or billing to purchase. You'vebeen working for the refuge for a long
time, from what I've been ableto gather, tell me what it feels
like for you watching all this happenover the years, watching the erosion get
worse and worse, and then havingto demolish this center where you've been working
at it for so long. What'sit like for you personally as somebody who's
(07:35):
so connected to this refuge. Well, that's an interesting My take is perhaps
unique in that my very first weekas the Monomoye National Wildlife Refuge Manager was
the week they tore down the weatherstation. So that's more or less what
I've known since I've been here,and I was actually thinking about that.
Even at my previous refuge, wehad to demolish a couple structures, ones
(07:56):
that we weren't using but just neededto go. So kind of been what
I've gotten used to. Now wehave a few properties, and we're just
trying to you know, we're usingthe best science to adapt and mitigate for
what's happening, and and you knowtry to you know, use those you
know, use that science to makethese decisions. That's just that's just how
(08:20):
I approach it is. I can'tstop the Atlantic oceans, so I gotta
do the next thing I can do. Unfortunately, you're right about that.
We are just mere humans. There'snothing we can do about that. Unfortunately.
So then what comes next? Imean, you said that you've got
obviously lots of time out in therefuge, and you know when it comes
(08:41):
to this erosion, I mean,what other impacts are we seeing around the
refuge, not just with the visitorcenter but overall. Yeah, the next
thing that we're looking at in termsof erosion impacts are the rest of Mores
Islands. So on Morris Island,we have this two acre parcel that was
is are manager facilities and visitor center. But then on the southern end of
(09:03):
Morison there's another forty acre parcel thathas what a four acre saltwater marsh and
some dune habitat. So that's thenext thing I'm gonna be looking at,
is what might be happening there that'scritical habitat for some shorebirds federally danger pipe
and plover, and some salt marshsparrows. So try to to see what
(09:24):
I need to do for them,for those species and for that parcel.
And so yeah, I just startto look at what we can figure out
there. And who are you workingwith to get all that done? I'm
assuming the National Weather Service. I'massuming there's so many different types of marine
scientists and scientist groups on cape CODs. I'm sure you've got a lot of
help. We do, yeah,a lot of I mean, the town
(09:48):
of Chatham does an aerial survey everyyear, so I work with the town.
The town has geologists, a coupleof geologists. I work with other
experts, coastal geomorphologists. The SchmalerService has a couple of hydrologists on staff,
so I work with a variety ofpartners. Who have expertise in these
areas, as well as those inour own service, and then all of
(10:11):
our biologists who know the best thingsto do for the species that we're trying
to protect. So then when itcomes to visitors this summer obviously a big
change when the visitor center's not goingto be there for them. What are
some pieces of advice you might havefor visitors who might come to Montamoy and
notice the difference, or what doyou want visitors to keep in mind when
they show up. Well, oneof the things when they show up is
(10:35):
even though our visitor center is gone, our Friends of Montamoy group will still
have an information booth up there andthey'll be there from ten to four every
day to talk to people. Butyou know, the main thing to see
is that the refuge is still there. We're still doing the work taking care
of you know, that seventy nineacres of wilderness. And you know,
(10:58):
and most of the people, peoplewho released the ones from Cape are familiar
with the Cape. They know changeis constant out here, and and said
this is just a very stark reminderof that. But you know, that's
the main thing is that the trailis still open, and the refuge is
still there and the friends will bethere to talk to them about it.
(11:20):
Beautiful, all right, Rick,thank you so much for your time.
Sure, thank you. Have asafe and healthy weekend, and please join
me again next week for another editionof the show. I'm Nicole Davis from
WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
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