ORLEANS – The Town of Orleans’ Nauset Beach South has reopened to oversand vehicle travel.
Although a 2021 permit will be required, self-escorting requirements have been dropped in the area.
The beach and a few others were closed earlier in the year for the nesting of the endanger piping plovers.
Nauset Beach North in Chatham will remain closed for the time being.
Piping plovers are a species of beach-dwelling birds with a species status of “threatened”.
The population of piping plovers in the Great Lakes region is highly depleted.
Parents of the species have been known to abandon their nests if there is too much disruption on a beach either from development or humans and vehicles.
The birds seasonally return to the shores of the Cape to make their nests and lay their eggs.
In the winter they migrate to warmer states down south such as Florida.
About Maura MacDonald
