1 - Some of the early responders apparently failed to fully read what Jim
had written and went off about trespassing and the risks to the restricted
access that doing so causes. This is absolutely true about the risks
trespassing creates but since Jim stated that he "had no problem obtaining
permission" to bird the site, what did that have to do with trespassing?
Those messages implied that Jim did something illegal and this was
absolutely not correct.
2 - What Jim was pointing out was this is a publicly owned property that is
part of an educational facility, not one held by a private individual or
entity. Being a publicly owned facility doesn't automatically indicate
that there is open access but that there may be a reasonable expectation
that some access should be more easily obtained than if it was a truly
private parcel, and in this case that is how it really is. What has been
implied for a long time was that this property is strictly private and only
open to a few privileged individuals. Some folks that have gone into the
property after obtaining permission to do so and made reports of their
sightings have been called to task by email for doing so. It should not be
compared to sites like NSA, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Andrews Air Force
Base or even Swan Creek. These properties have various reasons for their
restrictions to access that range from safety to National Security. There
is a distinct difference to the various levels of access restrictions
needed between those locations and the Central Farm. This property falls
somewhere in between the high security locations and State/County Parks and
Mike Lathroum spells it out perfectly.
3 - The general theme for information about the Central Farm has generally
been this is private property, we are special, a few of us can get
permission but that's it unless we schedule an outing. There has never been
information provided, that I know of, by those that regularly access the
place about how to go about getting permission and the somewhat ease in
doing so; accessing the property has been discouraged and that is what has
irked some. The truth is that anyone can generally expect to have a
reasonable chance to obtain access. Yes, you might show up and be told no
today due to others already being there and there is a control on the
number of people allowed at any given time, or there might be hunters on
the property and access to non-hunters won't be allowed for safety
reasons (this happened to me me once but I was told that I could access the
fields near the HQ building and that was all that I wanted anyway).
4. There was a heated discussion on MDOSPREY a few years ago about rare
birds in Howard and the lack of information getting out regarding them. I
was part of that conversation (surprise!) and I don't want to reopen that
discussion. It came to a head when the Harris's Sparrow showed up in
Columbia and the information was only put out on the Howard Bird Club
list. Nothing went out to anyone outside the Howard Club for a period of
time until it was leaked to someone outside the bird club. It came to a
head about the perceived secrecy, real or not, of bird related sightings
inside of Howard and how closely the information was thought to be kept.
That is where that came from, Russ, if you weren't here at the time.
We all know the problems that occur when a rarity shows up on truly private
property, especially mega-rarities and in neighborhoods. Those that have
attempted to keep the situation under control have always gotten beaten
down by those that didn't get to see the bird because of the short duration
in which it was there and the slow release in which the word was put out to
try to control the situation. We always try to do what we feel is best for
the property owner, the community and especially the bird, but it's a tight
wire act that the mediator walks and unless the bird stays for the whole
season it's a no-win situation for that person - someone's going to bitch.
There are numerous problems related to the needs of various
sensitive locations and the competition that differing groups want for
them. We as birders are competing more and more with not only other groups
but with ourselves due to the number of people enjoying the pastime that we
share. More and more sites have been closed to us over the last few years.
Sometimes it's due to insurance concerns, sometimes it's due to changes in
ownership or changes to the community, and more and more it's due to our
own boorish behavior that gets us thrown out and told not to come back.
Perhaps it's the latter that has been the motivation to keep a lid on the
Central Farm?
The whole point is that when we have a site like the Central Farm, there
should be no reason to try to make it a private preserve or insinuate that
it is such. The more sites that we have access to, the more we can spread
out and collect additional information about them, and the more open space
that we can enjoy in a less crowded way. It allows people to
enjoy more varied habitats and allows them to also enjoy the species that
use them. This facility already has rules to manage the property that they
devised. No outside individuals need, or even have the right, to
impose their own set of rules on top of those set by the property
owners. Access information about a great facility like Central Farm should
be openly distributed to help those interested to gain access to the
property.
Have a great holiday weekend and go have some fun.
Ed Boyd
Chestnut Hill Cove, MD
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