Sunbathers May Lose Beach to Rare Bird

CHARLESTOWN, R.I. — One letter contained a death threat to the tiny birds, but a sixth grader wrote that the beach should be closed to protect the habitat of the piping plover, because “people wouldn’t die if they didn’t have the beach.”

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday it has received nearly 300 letters commenting on its proposal to reserve Moonstone Beach--a popular spot with sunbathers--as a summer haven for the tiny, rare birds.

The mile-long stretch of sand is divided into three sections: one for nude bathing, one for the town of South Kingstown and one for the plover, which the government considers an endangered species. Officials say that the plovers’ best nesting ground is on the public beach.

“It’s all a question of whether people are willing to make sacrifices for the existence of a species on this Earth,” said Charles Blair, a refuge manager for the Fish and Wildlife Service.

“Many people care very much about the bird; other people wouldn’t care if it perished,” he said.

One anonymous letter writer threatened to shoot the plovers if the beach is closed.

“We figure if there are no more birds you will have no justification to close the beach,” the letter said. “You can’t stop us--the birds are too vulnerable. There are too many more of us than there are of you.”

Another letter said, “Granted, the shore birds are in danger, but the enjoyment of 110,000 people should overshadow the issue. Please consider your priorities.”

A sixth-grader at a Charlestown, R.I., school wrote: “I think the beach . . . should be closed to people because the birds might die. People wouldn’t die if they didn’t have the beach.”

Only two plovers are living at Moonstone this summer, Blair said, but about 1,000 others have been counted elsewhere along the East Coast and more would probably nest on the beach if the bathers were kept away.