Refuge Plans Prescribed Burn On South Monomoy; Habitat Improvement Effort Is Overdue, Manager Says

CHATHAM – In a bid to improve nesting habitat for protected shorebirds, the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge is planning a prescribed burn on South Monomoy Island. The work will require the temporary closure of all access to the island on days when burns are scheduled.

 Exactly when the controlled burn will take place depends on a host of factors, Refuge Manager Grace Bottitta-Williamson said. With all prescribed fires, a burn boss determines whether ignition is safe based on temperature, humidity and wind conditions, but other factors come into play on the refuge. 

 “For one, boating conditions. It’s huge,” she said. The tides need to be just right to allow crews to safely access the beach. While the burn window technically opens late this week, the weather may not cooperate. When a date is identified when the project can take place, local first responders will be contacted and the public will be notified through social media and local news outlets, Bottitta-Williamson said.

 The targeted area is 90 acres on the northern end of South Monomoy Island, prime habitat for common terns and roseate terns; the refuge hosts one of the world’s largest tern colonies. Wildlife managers use fire to clear out thick beach grass, thatch and woody vegetation that are not conducive to tern nesting.

 “They require sandy, open areas,” Bottitta-Williamson said. Overgrown vegetation, including invasive species, also provide perching areas for predators like hawks and cover for other predators like foxes, coyotes and rats.

 In addition to the remoteness of the site and weather challenges, prescribed burns face regulatory limitations as well. Between mid-March and the end of September, there are time-of-year restrictions that prevent activities like prescribed burns that could interfere with the 20,000-plus pairs of terns the refuge hosts. Also, the location is in a federally designated Wilderness Area, where wheeled vehicles are prohibited, “not even a wheeled pushcart or a wheelbarrow,” Bottitta-Williamson said. That means that the fire will need to be controlled by crews with hand tools.

 Each prescribed burn is expected to be completed within one day, with active burning over several hours. As it has been in the past, smoke will likely be visible from the mainland.

 “We are concerned about not having smoke blown into the town of Chatham,” Bottitta-Williamson said. “We definitely don’t want to smoke people out.” On burn days, access to all of South Monomoy Island, including the lighthouse, will be temporarily closed.

 In preparation for the burn, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has already notified local fire and police departments, the Coast Guard, harbormasters and the National Park Service.

 Previous controlled burns were held on the refuge in 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2019, but not since.

 “If we had the resources, we would do it more frequently,” perhaps as often as every other year, Bottitta-Williamson said. Crews are expecting to have to deal with particularly overgrown conditions this year. “People forget how important burning is,” she noted.