Buffers safeguard birds and economy

Coastal shorebirds, some of which are threatened or endangered species, are well served by protecting natural areas for nesting and feeding. Often these refuges consist of shorelines, sand dunes, and rocky ledges that are legally designated as “significant,” with an appropriate surrounding buffer zone. It’s easy to see that when it comes to wandering fledglings or curious housecats, a larger buffer zone is more effective for bird survival in these refuges.

Currently the Maine Legislature is debating whether to repeal a controversial provision in Maine’s Natural Resources Protection Act, which requires a 250-foot buffer around significant wildlife habitats, especially for areas set aside for coastal shorebirds. Most developers probably would prefer to have no buffer at all, so they can build as many housing units as possible, close to the coastline.

Work by Joanne Burger of Rutgers University has shown the importance of state programs that restrict interactions between people and nesting birds, allowing shorebirds, such as the threatened piping plover, to devote maximum effort to feeding and less time to vigilance for enemies. Her work and that of other scientists shows the benefits of a 100- to 300-foot buffer zone around nesting and feeding birds. These studies routinely show that protected habitats are most attractive to migrating and nesting birds.

Birds are important to Maine. The state needs the boost to its coastal economy from those who visit Maine because it is natural, unlike the coasts of New Jersey, North Carolina, and Florida. Water quality, fisheries and shorebird populations all decline with excessive coastal development. In destroying important bird habitat, developers may inadvertently cut off an important economic benefit to these regions. Ecotourism is a sustainable economy that will persist long after the developers have moved on. Let not the revenue from ecotourism suffer the same fate as that from commercial fishing in Maine.

Just as forest birds lower the populations of bothersome insects, shorebirds are part of the integrity and stability of coastal ecosystems. Sustain coastal ecosystems and they will sustain us; destroy them and Maine and the world are impoverished forever. If we manage coastal habitats well, migrating shorebirds will return each year to their important habitats in Maine. The birds belong to all citizens and should not be lost at the whim of coastal developers.

The Legislature should maintain the protection offered by the 250-foot barrier stipulated in current law by the state of Maine. Coastal Maine is a special place for many – a coastal heritage of species and places. It can be preserved at a small cost today, to ensure huge value for tomorrow.

William H. Schlesinger is dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University and a frequent ecotourist to Maine.