The long-delayed Fire Island Inlet to Montauk Point (FIMP) project saw some progress. Last summer's public outreach meetings at Ocean Beach, Patchogue and Montauk attracted sizable numbers and showed a good level of public interest in the effort. At the same time, the National Seashore was asking the public for comments on its plan to revise the park's General Management Plan. Managing Fire Island and managing it's beaches aren't the same, but the agencies doing the managing are.

For a long time the federal agencies did not see eye-to-eye on those problems. The Department of the Interior agencies, including the National Park Service, protect the natural processes under their ministration, while the Corps of Engineers is charged with building beaches to protect lives, property and infrastructure. The two don't always mesh. Meanwhile, the state of New York (the principal non-federal sponsor of shore protection projects within their waters) maintained a kind of "you fight it out" attitude, which fit well with the state's lack of money.

The minuet may have ended when members of the public made it clear that the resources under discussion, both natural and man-made, need to be protected. This, plus hard work by the Long Island Congressional delegation, has resulted in the federal agencies being more or less on the same page with respect to FIMP, even though many details remain to be worked out.

At the same time park planners, who have been asking what the public wants to see FINS become in the future, were holding similar outreach meetings. Members of the FIA board have been discussing, with Park Superintendent Soller, aspects of this that affect island communities. The good news: It is increasingly apparent that how Fire Island is managed as a National Seashore is going to affect how the shoreline will be managed, and vice versa. This is real progress. It reflects a willingness to meet half-way on issues important to all.

Regardless of what happens with the FIMP project, for now communities will need once again to protect their own beaches against whatever summer and winter storms Nature throws at us. Now, however, a new approach to that is being considered. Instead of a Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) good only for a single project, a "Programmatic EIS" that may be good for numerous projects over as many as 20 to 30 years is being drafted. This should greatly simplify what is now an often frustrating process involving conflicting deadlines and financial uncertainty. Details are summarized in the current FIA Newsletter, which has been posted on our website (www.fireislandassn.org).

Individual community scraping projects are also a possibility under the new approach. But there has to be enough beach sand available, and the community has to be willing to pay to move it where it will do the most good. Community association leaders have details.

FIA has also been in discussion with Supt. Soller about deer herd management. The decade-old program of immuno-contraception has been successful, by and large, and the herd has been reduced in a humane way, but the program is expensive and not easily administered. A new approach will be tried, one that will gather more scientific data while using a longer-lasting sterilant.

In another arena, the Towns of Islip and Brookhaven are becoming more involved in Fire Island zoning issues. In particular, granting of variances has come under more scrutiny as owners try to fit as much house as possible on the available property. Some individual property owners have seen the value – at least to them – of their own house go down when variances granted to a neighbor impede once-treasured views and privacy. Reduced space between buildings strike some fire fighters as a problem, too.

FIA had David Genaway, the Islip Planning Commissioner, at its March meeting to discuss proposed changes in the floor-to-area ratio, which could have the effect of limiting the size of new or renovated houses. These are questions best answered by communities through hamlet zoning overlays, not by adopting a town-wide, one-size-fits-all variance procedure. Sounds like a good topic for discussion at community association meetings, with or without help from the towns.

Members of the Fire Island Law Enforcement/Security Council are concerned about the condition of Fire Island Inlet. Because of drifting sand in the bay, it has become almost impassable even at high tide. The Coast Guard is urging the state and the Corps of Engineers to agree on a plan to dredge it. (We can think of a place for some of the sand.) Congressman Israel and Senator Schumer have led in getting an appropriation of $6 million or so in the president's budget dredge the inlet, but Republicans in Congress call this "an earmark in a no-earmarks environment." To which the Democrats reply, "Yes, but it's part of the president's budget." And the Republicans answer, "An earmark is an earmark." Meanwhile, Captree Island fishing boats have a scary time getting to where the fish are.