Committee to Save the North Pool

Latest News

• June 19, 2006 – We learned from the refuge that the gates were opened on Thursday, June 15, in order to remove a couple feet of water. The purpose was to drop the level in the North Pool as an aide to removing water from Bill Forward Pool. After opening the gates, however, no one remembered to close them until Rick, with Tom in tow, managed to find someone at headquarters on Sunday, June 18, 2006, who could get the gates closed. So it was a mistake, and not a clandestine plot. From Thursday through Sunday the water control gates were wide open. The pool lost at least four feet of hard won fresh water. During at least some of the high tides during that time, salt water from the Plum Island sound flowed back into the pool. This has had the strange side effect of letting many large fish into the pools which have now been seen in both Bill Forward and North Pools. If these fish are Striped Bass, Morone saxatilisa, a salt water fish that has been known to colonize fresh water impoundments and other low salinity areas (e.g., Kerr Lake, North Carolina and upper San Francisco Bay) we may have a new component to the fish fauna in the pools.
• June 18, 2006 – At some time between 9:00 am on Friday, June 16, 2006, and 7:00 am on Saturday, June 17, 2006, the water control gates on North Pool dike were opened and at least four feet of fresh water were released from the North Pool. We are still trying to determine what happened, and will report the reason here when we find out. Apparently the gates were kept open because during the high tide of Sunday morning, June 18, 2006, salt water was seen rushing into the North Pool through the control gates. Here is a link to a page a photographs that document the change in water levels and the inrushing of salt water into the pool.
• May 15, 2005 – Tom Wetmore and Sue McGrath lead the Early Bird Special Walk down the North Pool dike and encounter some of the rare marsh bird surveys. Read their report.
• May 13, 2005 – Tom and Luann Wetmore did their first canoe survey of marsh birds in North Pool as volunteers for the Parker River NWR. Read Tom's report.
• November 3, 2004 – Massachusetts Audubon released a statement on principles for decision making on the restoration of north pool. The statement echos many of the points the committee has been making.
• October 18, 2004 – Please reserve Thursday evening, November 4th, at 6:30 pm. The Parker River NWR staff is holding a public informational meeting at that time to present their North Pool management plans. The meeting is at their new headquarters at the corner of Ocean Avenue (the extension of Rolfe's Lane in Newburyport) and the Plum Island Turnpike. The entrance is off Ocean Avenue. Interested parties are invited to attend.
• October 15, 2004 – the Merrimack River Current published five articles related to the North Pool issue. The articles are now online and can be read at http://www2.townonline.com/byfield/.
• August 5, 2004 – Added a page of Least Bittern images taken at North Pool in July and August of this year by Phil Brown.
• July 31, 2004 – Added a link to a letter from Jim Berry, President of the Essex County Ornithological Club, to Janet Kenney, Refuge Manager of Parker River NWR. The letter highlights three areas of ornithological concern for the management of the refuge, the first concerning the fresh water impoundments, and how recent changes in management practices may have contributed to the steep decline in marsh related bird species.
• July 28, 2004 – Added a link to Steve Grinley's Words on Birds column that addressed the North Pool issue.
• July 15, 2004 – Added a link to a preview of Tom Wetmore’s article on the Marsh Birds of North Pool in the Spring and Summer of 2004, for an upcoming Bird Observer issue, is available.
• July 6, 2004 – Added a link to Rick Heil's rebuttal of the refuge’s North Pool Restoration Study Statement.
• July 4, 2004 – Boston Globe article published
• July 4, 2004 – Link to Rick Heil's June 2003 open letter to Massbird added.
• June 28, 2004 – The Committee to Save the North Pool issued its first statement.
• June 27, 2004 – Several Committee members met with and were interviewed by Boston Globe reporter David Rattigan at the North Pool. An article on the issue is slated to appear in the Globe’s “North Section” in this coming Sunday's paper.

Introduction

The Parker River N.W.R., Newburyport, Massachusetts, is proposing to destroy the North Pool and North Field systems on Plum Island, converting them to salt marsh, by breaching the North Pool dike and allowing unrestricted tidal flow into the area. This map shows the extent of that tidal flow during normal high tides. Astronomical high tides (spring tides) are considerably higher.

Though the official position of the refuge is that alternatives are still being considered, and no final plan exists, in truth all alternatives under consideration include the destruction of the North Pool fresh water marsh.

In mid June, 2004, a group of concerned naturalists met and formed the Committee to Save the North Pool to provide a focal point for opposition to the plan. On June 28, 2004, the Committee issued its first official statement. The statement lays out the Committee's position, and we urge all citizens with a strong interest in the health and diversity of our natural world to read and consider the statement.

Writing Letters

If you are concerned about the effects of carrying out the proposal to destroy the North Pool, we urge you to contact people involved in preparing the proposal or people who can influence its future. We have prepared two lists, one of politicians and one of agency officials, for you to start with. We have also prepared our statements in printable form so you can include them as attachments in letters. Here is a printable form of the Committee's initial statement.

We will be adding new sections to this web site in the future.

Persons to Contact

• State and Federal Senators and Representatives
• Governmental Agencies and Other Organizations

Links

• Initial Statement From the Committee to Save the North Pool
• Massachusetts Audubon Statement Concerning Decision Making Principles to Apply to North Pool Restoration
• Rebuttal of Refuge's North Pool Restoration Study Statement
• Map Showing Tidal Inundation Should North Pool Dike Be Breached
• Rick Heil's June 2003 Open Letter to Massbird.
• Pictures of Some of the North Pool Marsh Birds.
• Boston Globe July 4, 2004, Article
• Preview of Tom Wetmore’s Bird Observer Article.
• Steve Grinley’s Words on Birds Newspaper Column.

Rick Heil, Chairman
Tom Wetmore, Webmaster