In Fairfield County, Different Views On Waterfront Land Use

It's not often that civilization is demolished to make way for wild birds, especially within sight of Connecticut's largest city. That's what's happening on a long barrier beach between Bridgeport and Stratford.

On the Stratford side, a yellow excavator crashed its bucket into the roof of cottage number 31 of Long Beach West last week. Timed to avoid most of the rare shore birds' nesting seasons, the excavator turned the abandoned beach house into a debris pile within about 10 minutes.

By Thanksgiving, the original 37 cottages and 27 outbuildings will all be gone. This is perhaps one of the odder projects funded by federal stimulus money, but various people in the many groups, both private and government, that worked for this were practically cheering as number 31's roof crumpled.

"Tearing down the cottages will have a lot of benefit, not just for the wildlife but for the public," said Patrick Comins, director of bird conservation for Audubon Connecticut.

"For the public, the houses in the condition they're in, are sheltering predators-feral cats, raccoons. They're taking some of the upland dune habitat," Comins went on. "For people, there's been no safe access."

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