Rising Sun at Sengekontacket Pond & Barrier Beach
Photo Courtesy Don Cullivan © 2006
The
Barrier Beach Task Force (BBTF), co-chaired by County Manager Winn Davis and FOS
Advisory Board member Christina Miller, was established in 1993. It is composed
of members from the towns of Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, County officials,
Massachusetts Highway Department (MHD), Martha’s Vineyard Commission, state and
federal environmental agencies, Friends of Sengekontacket and the Senior Environmental Corps.
Examples of issues which come before the BBTF are dredging of inlets, erosion
and beach nourishment, recreational use, protection of rare species during
nesting, and handicapped access.
The BBTF has been instrumental in obtaining an environmentally sensitive design for the replacement of the Big and Little Bridges on Beach Road. The task force meets regularly and has been discussing the development of a long term management plan to preserve the Joseph Sylvia State Park Beach. The FOS implemented a major element of the plan by organizing the planting of thousands of culms of beach grass by volunteers including school children.
Today pathways to the sea are clearly
delineated and the
increasing height of the dunes protects the coast and seaward
shore from storms. Each path is marked by “Carry In/Carry Out” signs made by
children from the Oak Bluffs and Edgartown Schools. In 2005, the Dukes County
Sheriff
assumed management responsibility and budget for all the county beaches,
including maintenance, enforcement, and access control. New post and rail fences
were installed on both the pond and Nantucket Sound side designating access
points. A major accomplishment in 2005 was the successful dredging of the
Little Bridge Channel.