Sandy Hook Cancels All Its Summer Concerts Due To Piping Plover

HIGHLANDS, NJ — In a stunning announcement Thursday morning, the National Park Service announced that all outdoor concerts at Sandy Hook/Gateway National Recreation Area have been canceled for the entire summer 2019 season, due to the discovery of a piping plover nest near where the concerts are held.

One single plover nest was discovered by park rangers on June 3, in close proximity to Lot E, according to the National Park Service, which operates Sandy Hook. For decades now, the concerts have been held every Wednesday night at Lot E. They attract thousands of people, and feature many local Jersey Shore bands. Thursday's news will likely disappoint thousands of Monmouth County residents who enjoyed a summer evening of live music on the beach.

"The concerts were hugely popular," said Art Gallagher, a well-known Monmouth County resident who writes a popular political blog, MoreMonmouthMusings. "This is not going to go over well."

While one nest was found near Lot E, there are up to 22 plover nests total throughout the entire park, making it essentially impossible to find a back-up venue for the concerts, according to Jane Preziosi of the Sandy Hook Foundation, the non-profit that hosts the concerts every year.

State law enforced by the New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife prohibits any human activity from taking place within 1,000 meters of a piping plover or its nest, said Daphne Yun, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service. The National Park Service runs and maintains Sandy Hook, a federal park, similar to the operation of Yosemite or Yellowstone.

The piping plover is a threatened (not endangered) species in New Jersey, and anyone familiar with the Jersey Shore is used to seeing large swaths of beaches and dunes blocked off by the state Department of Environmental Protection for plover nesting grounds.

"We want to help these shorebirds survive," said the National Park Service in a prepared statement. "That means this year, the free beach concerts that have been a hallmark of summer on the North Jersey shore will not be offered."

"It's not just one bird; it's a nest with eggs in it," added Yun. "We understand that these concerts are a 25-year tradition and they are very popular. But this is a threatened species and it's a federal law to protect them."

The concerts are organized by the Sandy Hook Foundation, a non-profit organization that is a fundraising partner for Sandy Hook. Their entire summer 2019 line-up had already been announced and published on the web when the federal government made the decision to shut it all down.

"We're horribly upset about this, too," said Preziosi of the Sandy Hook Foundation. "It's horrible. The park and the Foundation really tried everywhere to find a place for the concerts. People say the parade grounds, but there's no parking there. We need a space to park 3,000 cars."

She continued:

"This is the biggest thing we do all summer; we booked the acts four months ago. Trust me, we didn't want to cancel it. We looked at every beach and every parking lot, but there are piping plover nests on every single beach. And then we need to find parking."

Many of the acts were local Jersey Shore musicians, eager to play at such at such a well-loved venue. The concerts were supposed to kick off next Wednesday, June 19; the first band to play would have been Asbury Park-based Waiting on Mongo.

The concerts were also free, offering an accessible form of entertainment for all.

Brian Kirk, the lead singer of Brian Kirk and The Jirks, a popular local band, said he received the call Thursday morning — the entire season had been canceled.

"I got a text from another singer who said, 'The whole series is canceled and I'm sick about it,'" Kirk told Patch, speaking from his Rumson home. "I was looking forward to it; it's one of the biggest shows we play all year. But to these up-and-coming bands, it's probably more devastating to them."

This is only the most recent crackdown the National Park Service has taken at Sandy Hook: Earlier this year, they angered many along the Jersey Shore when they announced they were banning alcohol at Sandy Hook. The Sandy Hook booze ban was announced in April and became effective immediately. Many enjoyed watching the concerts on a warm summer night, with the Atlantic in the background and a beverage, alcoholic or otherwise, in hand.

The Park Service didn't see it as innocent fun.

"Sandy Hook has become a party beach," said Chief Ranger Greg Norman when the ban was first announced. He wasn't referring to the Wednesday night concerts specifically. "People don't come here for a beer, they come here for a six pack."

"Maybe the piping plovers are actually staging a protest against the alcohol ban," joked Kirk. "Look, they're the federal government. Fun is at the bottom of their priority list, right behind balancing the budget and a bunch of other stuff that nobody cares about."

Sandy Hook just happens to be one of the main nesting grounds in the entire state for the little piping plover, a diminutive bird about the size of a sparrow and usually dull brown in color.

"Forty percent of all the piping plovers in New Jersey come out of Sandy Hook, so we're excited there is a nest here," said Yun.

Piping plovers are listed not as an endangered species, but a threatened species by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: That's mostly because decades of beachfront development in New Jersey destroyed their nesting grounds, usually right on the dunes. New Jersey has taken an extremely aggressive approach to saving the piping plover, even killing foxes in Island Beach State park because they are a natural plover predator.

All kidding aside, Kirk said he was saddened by the abrupt decision, and many others would be, too.

"I am upset. But I guess if we're going to do something about saving the environment and clean oceans, we have to sacrifice things," he told Patch. "Come to the Pier Village concerts in Long Branch. I guarantee a piping plover would not nest there."

Related: Sandy Hook/Gateway Nat'l Park Bans Alcohol Effective Immediately