Protecting the Capes, Part 2

Wilson's warbler		Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR

County records show that applications for building permits are already up about 20 percent for the current fiscal year, which began July 1. The figure is even greater if you factor in construction at Bay Creek in the town of Cape Charles, which has its own building and zoning department. Most of the residential lots are being purchased by people who are retiring to the Eastern Shore or who work in Hampton Roads and commute across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which recently adopted a discount commuter toll for drivers crossing twice during a 24-hour period.

Southern Northampton County has some prime real estate: sandy beaches, forested dunes overlooking the bay, miles of open space, a barrier island sanctuary, parks and wildlife refuges, and all within a relatively brief commute to a major metropolitan area. The appeal of the area is undeniable. The conflict is that the tracts most coveted by developers and potential landowners are the same maritime forests, shrub thickets and vegetated dunes that biologists say are vital to migrating warblers, thrushes, tanagers and other songbirds.

How, then, to strike a balance between residential development and protection of the ecosystem?  One answer might be in conservation partnerships. The Conservancy has recently worked with the Fish and Wildlife Service to expand Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR. The Conservancy has also worked with private landowners to protect land through conservation easements. In some cases, the Conservancy has purchased farmland and woodland and resold it to conservation-minded buyers who agree to protect the natural assets of the land. The Conservancy has also worked with architects and developers to help design residential communities that have minimal negative impact on natural communities.

The question of balancing human needs with those of wildlife is certainly not new, and one with which this community and many others around the country have been struggling for years. But it's difficult to see wildlife as not being the underdog. Warblers pass through without paying rent or taxes. They have no political capital. All they can hope for is that people will do the right thing, whether that means creating sanctuaries or building subdivisions that use bulldozers judiciously.

By Curtis J. Badger. Excerpted from Virginia News, Fall 2002.

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