AVALON – “The buzzword today is resiliency,” Avalon Mayor Martin Pagliughi said as he opened the newly-enhanced Dune and Beach Trail May 21 at 44th and Dune Drive.
Pagliughi’s message was about the importance of the dunes to the protection of Avalon in times of increasingly challenging changes to weather and climate. He recalled the history of a half century when dunes ran the length of most of the island and praised his predecessors for establishing what was then the Avalon Conservation Commission which began the process of protecting dunes and “stopping the bulldozing.”
The event at which Pagliughi spoke was the ribbon-cutting for what a release called “a new Dune and Beach trail funded by the Cape May County Open Space Program.” The trail includes paths through the dunes on 44th and 48th streets with new signage aimed at educating the public about the dune eco-system and the rare maritime forest that exists in the borough’s dune system.
Within the next month, a new website, accessible through the borough’s website, will be available to support that educational purpose. Information will be downloadable to smartphones giving visitors a guided tour of the dune path.
Dr. Bryan Reynolds, chairman of the all-volunteer Avalon Environmental Commission, said educating the public was a primary objective of the project. “People don’t know what’s here,” he said.
The maritime forest contained in the dune system is unique in the county and one of only a handful in the Northeast. Reynolds noted the importance of the forest to migratory birds and other forms of wildlife. “If you walk the trail at certain times of night you can even pick up a healthy smell of skunk,” he joked.
The opening of the trail and the educational support material, including the signs and website, represent the importance the borough places on helping the public to understand the unique eco-system that exists here.
Through such educational efforts, the borough is seeking to extend and enhance support for environmental efforts. Reynolds said that “Avalon has always been proactive with environmental stewardship endeavors.” This project stands in counterpoint to the criticism the borough, and by extension the commission, has taken over environmental issues related to Armacost Park.
Dr. Lenore Tedesco, executive director of the Wetland’s Institute, brought a busload of youngsters with her to the opening. The children explored parts of the trail while Tedesco cited the importance of the high dunes system for birds. “When we have the World Series of Birding event, this is one of our go-to spots,” she said. A rare yellow crowned heron sighted earlier on the trail seemed to allow its presence to reinforce her comments.
Pagliughi spoke of the need to educate the public on “what the dunes are, how they are formed, and the importance of having them.” Whether one took the perspective of the dunes as protection or as an important and unique ecology, Avalon is the home of a rare dune system that should be better understood so that it will always be supported.
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