February 21, 1980 - Students Visit New Inlet
February 21, 1980
Students Visit New inlet
It felt like old times last week when I spent
a day with a busload of students from
Heliport High School here on Long Island.
Art Cooley had invited me on a field trip to
study the terrain of Long Island and see
some of its unique features. The idea was to
bring lunch and spend the day moving about
via bus so the students could learn, fir-
sthand, some of the critical issues slowly
emerging about our fragile island. I was
picked up about 8:15 as the bus passed
through Moriches. We were heading for a
look at the new breakthrough in the barrier
beach lust west of Moriches Inlet.
Architecture Gone Mad
Through Quogue and Westhampton and
over the bridge we traveled to the Dune
Road that runs along the ocean. One would
never realize the ocean is just a short
distance away, for all along on both sides of
the road are motels, hotels, condominiums
and homes of all sorts. For those who had
never been there before it seemed as though
architecture had gone mad. Every size and
shape of building imaginable came into
view. Every once in a while you'd be able to
recognize one of the old cottages sitting low
in what seemed almost part of a natural
area. How it's changed in 40 years! No
longer were there open grassy spaces of
sand and dunes, with the surf pounding on a
clean, clear beach. The day was gone when
you could stop the car, go over the dunes and
into the sea.
To me the public lost one of its great
birthrights when that great beach was lost
to private interests. Thank goodness the
county had the foresight to grab a small
portion at Cupsogue at the west end of Dune
Road.
We parked here and walked out along the
beach to, where the ocean had broken
through in a recent winter storm. It seems
incredible that much sand could be moved in
such a short time. There was a great gaping
hole a thousand feet in width where the sea
and the bay met. A winter's storm had
shown its strength. A few hundred feet
farther to the west, past the break, were the -
jetties of the Moriches Inlet with the inlet
still intact. It was a lesson in nature's power
and one which showed how fragile our
beaches can be when put upon by the sea.
cn MEalITN
No One Knows Answers
What to do about this great gash is hard to
say for no one really knows the answers.
There is only speculation when it comes to
the multitude of forces that work within our
waters and upon our beaches. Some say it
should be filled in, but this would cost
millions of taxpayers' dollars, and perhaps
only last a short while. Others say, leave it
alone and let nature heal its own wounds as
it has in the past.
On our way back we stopped along the
area that had been washed out a year ago,
and to our amazement houses were being
rebuilt on the same location. Now they are
being built on eight -foot pilings so, should
the sea wash over, hopefully it would go
right on underneath. This height also
qualifies the homeowner for federal flood
insurance. See editorial page 8.
While we were visiting the area we
stopped at the groin fields to the east. Here
we saw great masses of rock -like jetties that
were put out into the ocean to stabilize the
beaches. They do a good job for the
homeowner to the east of the groin, but the
people to the west or down -drift side suffer
from washed -out beaches. This problem can
only be corrected, we are told, by putting
groins the entire length of Long Island. For
without this gigantic project, the owners to
the west will continue to suffer.
How Freshwater Sanctuary Worked
Our next stop was to see how a freshwater
sanctuary worked in the old days. The
Quogue Wildlife Sanctuary area proved to
be ideal, for here there's a beautiful pond
where, before refrigeration came along, ice -
cutting was a winter business. Carl Helms,
the state's manager of the area, brought out
a collection of fine old ice - cutting tools and
gave us a short talk on how they were used.
Of course, the youthful fever of the group
ANWPAOINAN
.......... .
CHANGING TIMES - -Few places are left today where one can stop the
car, go over the dunes and into the sea as once was done along the South
Shore. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
took up the idea and with a bit of direction
took off with the proper tools to try some of
their own ice - cutting. Old ice drills, slings,
hooks, and saws were brought along, and in
no time two young men had a four -foot
square chunk of ice pulled out of the pond,
just as they did in the old days. Learning by
seeing and doing was the order of the day.
The bus wound its way back through the
great Pine Barrens that stretched north of
the refuge. Our point of destination was the
Strategic Air Command's radar domes that
sit on the great Ronkonkoma moraine south
of Riverhead. This moraine was left when
the great glaciers stopped 10 to 15 thousand
years ago on their southerly trek out of the
north. It's the high area that you pass over
south of Riverhead.
we could see why the Air Force had
located here, because of its elevation above
the surrounding area. The great ocean to the
south could be seen with its gaping hole in
the barrier beach -- to the east and west ran
the great Pine Barrens -- and to the nor-
theast the bay with our own Robins Island
sparkling in Peconic. How fortunate most of
the Pine Barren area has been taken over by
the state, for under it lies the greatest and
purest fresh water supply in Suffolk County.
Yet there are those who cannot see this
being locked up as a reserve for future
generations.
On our way down we were all brought
back into reality as a partridge ran across
the road in front of us. This is a rare bird to
see on Long Island and few have ever seen
one, for they seek out the most desolate of
wilderness areas. It seemed to have no
trouble existing in the great Pine Barrens,
where there were plenty of bearberries
about, with an occasional wintergreen.
It was a glorious day and I wondered as I
drove home by myself how many of these
students realize the importance of their
place in shaping tomorrow's future.
PAUL STOUTENBURGH
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