Yesterday, I attended the Hart-Miller Island North Cell Habitat Development 
Working Group meeting on the island.  After the meeting, I had a chance to 
meet with island management to discuss weekend access for birders.

Here is an update on the current status of birder access to the Hart-Miller 
Island Dredged Material Containment Facility (HMI-DMCF).  Since Maryland 
Environmental Service stopped weekend overtime work at the beginning of May, 
there has not been boat access to the island for birders.  (Birders are only 
allowed on weekends, and before you ask --- No, we are not allowed to take 
private boats to the HMI-DMCF.)  I anticipate that there will be very 
limited weekend access for the remainder of 2008 and possibly for 2009.

There will still not be a boat to the island this weekend (6/21/08 or 
6/22/08).  A small dredging project is scheduled to begin next week and MES 
anticipates that there will be a Saturday boat on 6/28/08 and probably for a 
few Saturdays after that depending on how long the dredged material 
placement project lasts.

As many of you know, dredged material placement at Hart-Miller Island stops 
by law on December 31, 2009.  At the present time, there are only two larger 
dredged material placement projects planned for the future - January & 
February 2009 and possibly November & December 2009.  During those months, 
there should be access on both Saturdays and Sundays since MES should be on 
a seven-day-a-week schedule for those projects.  There might possibly be 
some additional smaller projects that might give us some additional Saturday 
access as well during 2008 and 2009.

At this time, I have no idea what weekend work and birder access will be 
after dredged material placement ends in December 2009.

As in the past, I am your point of contact for any weekend access to the 
HMI-DMCF.

Gene

Gene Scarpulla
Millers Island, Maryland