This Memorial Day, people are flocking to beaches across America, but Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge won’t be one of them.
It’s not exactly a vacation beach for people. It’s a habitat for animals like least terns and piping plovers. Although restoration finished in 2016, the beach is not yet open to the public.
“They’re all very imperiled birds and they don’t tolerate human disturbance very well, so we’ve gotta give first priority to the birds,” said Al Rizzo, the project leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Delaware National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
Rizzo led the team that helped restore the beach at Prime Hook, known as Fowler Beach, by infusing it with new sand and restoring its berm and dune. Now, the beach has been ranked as one of America’s top five restored beaches by the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association, a national nonprofit that focuses on replenishment projects and restoration efforts at beaches.
“It’s great to be recognized for the environmental value of it, as opposed to just recreational,” Rizzo said. “It’s a combination of the two, but the intent of the restoration was environmental in nature.”
The ASBPA called it a “great example of restoring a barrier beach to enhance/protect wetland resources that benefit the entire regional economy.” The restoration project, they said, increased wetland resiliency while maintaining the fishing industry.
Officials have already seen the value of restoration at Prime Hook, Rizzo said. Since restoration finished up in 2016, the refuge has seen horseshoe crabs and beach-nesting birds.
While Fowler Beach will be closed this Memorial Day, Rizzo said visitors can check out Prime Hook’s beach later this summer or early fall when it reopens after nesting shorebirds leave. Until then, they can see birds and other wildlife from the refuge’s six miles of trails.
"What our hope is, is by opening it later in the summer, early fall, that people will be able to come in and enjoy the fall migration," Rizzo said. "That’s a big part of the recreational community - is birding."
