Birds and Property Rights

If you were to own shore-front property in Maine, how would you feel if you couldn't build within 250 feet of the high tide line? That's a question the state of Maine is revisiting after enacting just such legislation earlier this year. Fragile nesting and roosting areas need protection from human foot and vehicular traffic. Wildlife is to be enjoyed by the many, sometimes at the expense of the few. Perhaps a grandfather clause that might protect current property while prohibiting future construction might be the compromise answer to this one.

Sections of beach along the eastend of Long Island have restricted access when plover's are nesting and people, particularly fishermen with four-wheel beach access permits, have gotten used to it. Bottom-line, you have to protect the wildlife, even if it's an inconvenience (work on that tan somewhere else), or hurts economically.
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