Beach buggy access to Island Beach State Park jetty resumes tomorrow
![Image: By Famartin (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]](https://whyy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/2013-08-21_12_52_39_view_into_the_atlantic_ocean_along_the_jetty_on_the_north_shore_of_barnegat_inlet_in_island_beach_state_park-1-768x574.jpg "2013-08-21_12_52_39_view_into_the_atlantic_ocean_along_the_jetty_on_the_north_shore_of_barnegat_inlet_in_island_beach_state_park")
Image: By Famartin (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
State officials will soon reopen beach buggy access in a portion of Island Beach State Park as the endangered piping plovers that have been nesting in the area will fledge.
Officials expect the nestlings to fly by tomorrow.
[Read about IBSP’s piping plovers here]
According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, vehicle access from A-23 to the Barnegat Inlet jetty will resume at 7 a.m. tomorrow.
The closure of four-and-a-half-miles of beach for vehicle access began on June 30 in accordance with federal law. Foot traffic, without dogs, has been permitted.
Protective fencing is around the nesting area — marked with warning signs and posts — to keep it safe from predators, such as seagulls and fox.
The piping plover population has been on the rise in New Jersey.
The population increased 17% to 108 pairs in 2015, as compared to 2014, according to an annual report from Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.
But the the population still remains below the long-term average (118 pairs) since it appeared on the federal threatened and endangered species list in 1986 and well below the peak population.
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