MIDDLETOWN — The economic downturn and competition from electronic media have led to a decision by the New Jersey Audubon Society to close its Sandy Hook Bird Observatory at the end of December.
In a press released issued last week, the group said it would continue to hold field trips at the Sandy Hook site, to be led by director Pete Bacinski and Scott Barnes, the society’s senior naturalist.
In the press release, the group said it would launchAll Things Bird, a new initiative “to introduce New Jersey residents to the riches of their bird-filled state.”
“The core of the All Things Bird initiative will be expanded focus on New Jersey’s birds through programs, field trips, publications, and adult and children’s education,” the press release states.
To meet this goal, key staff will be reassigned to two otherAudubon visitor centers.
Bacinski said Sunday that the economic downturn played a role in the decision to close the Sandy Hook center. He also said that increasing use of the Internet and other electronic devices provide other sources for the public to obtain information about birds.
Last month, he said, a rare sparrow was sighted at Sandy Hook and around 100 to 300 visitors came to see it, while only about 25 stopped at the Audubon building.
According to the Audubon website, the Sandy Hook Bird Observatory was established in 2001 in one of the state’s best yearround birding locations. “Sandy Hook is a peninsula that projects northward into Raritan Bay at the northern-most point of the New Jersey coast. Due to its history as a military installation until recently, Sandy Hook is largely undeveloped and supports a variety of habitats.
“A major migration path in both spring and fall, Sandy Hook has attracted approximately 350 bird species and over 50 species of butterflies to its varying habitats,” the website states.
Bacinski said that anyone who wants more information about the Sandy Hook Observatory could come to the center at Sandy Hook or call. He said he and his staff would be there for a month after the closing.
Asked if the society would maintain the annual spring bird migration watch held from March 15 through May 15 each year, during which birdwatchers at the northern end of Sandy Hook are assisted in identifying birds by Audubon, Bacinski said that would depend on the National Park Service allowing the use of the viewing platform.
The N.J. Audubon Society, the American Littoral Society and Clean Ocean Action, all located in the Officers’ Row buildings facing Sandy Hook Bay, were permitted to stay in Fort Hancock by the park service after it selected Rumson developer James Wassel to commercially develop 36 or more of the historic fort’s buildings.
In 2009 the park service terminated the 60-year lease it had given to Wassel in 2004 for most of the buildings at the fort.
The following year it ended the 2007 lease he had for three buildings there: the chapel and theater, which he rented out for weddings and other events, and the former park headquarters, which was used as headquarters for Wassel’s firm, Sandy Hook Partners.
Wassel did not do any renovations, except for the three buildings on the 2007 lease, and the other structures, including most of the Officers’ Row buildings, have continued to deteriorate since he was named as the developer in 1999.
The park service is now working on developing a general management plan for Fort Hancock.