Refuge Manager to Address F-Cove Before Council

The township appears unlikely to challenge the decision of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to from accessing a popular anchorage in Barnegat Bay.

Marked barrels to F-Cove, several lagoons just north of the Mantoloking Bridge, as well as another area known as "No Name Cove" or T-Cove.

Both areas are popular destinations for local boaters, who beach their boats on the banks of the lagoons – the product of a failed attempt to build a residential development – and use the area for recreation. But the Fish and Wildlife Service, which says it has established ownership over the waterway, is blocking boaters from accessing the area because it is part of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge and the agency feels the area should serve the needs of wildlife before those of boaters.

Refuge Manager Virginia Rettig will address the Brick Township Council at its public meeting Tuesday evening.

But despite a growing level of discontent about the coves' closure among boaters, the township does not appear to be readying any legal challenges, as it had considered doing when the idea of shutting down access was floated in 2009.

"While F-Cove was a favorite destination for many, the health and the protection of the Forsythe Refuge and Barnegat Bay are too important to ignore. We cannot continue putting them at risk,” said Brick Mayor Stephen Acropolis, who was quoted in a prepared statement put out by the refuge last week.

In the same statement, the mayor pledged that he would work with refuge officials to restore "appropriate public access to the cove" and a linkage to the Traders Cove Marina site, which the township is currently developing into a park.

Now that it has established its ownership over the waterways that make up the lagoons – the land near F-Cove has long been a part of the refuge and owned by the federal government – the Fish and Wildlife Service is required by law to complete an environmental review before allowing public uses on refuge property. The statement from the service said a review could eventually lead to reopening some access so people can "enjoy certain wildlife-dependent activities that could include kayaking and hiking."

The current ban on access will be enforced by the New Jersey State Police and local authorities.

Rettig will provide additional information about the service’s management authority and its decision to close the coves at Tuesday's meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. at the .