Massachusetts homeowners stunned after town warns July 4 flags threaten endangered birds
Residents of a Massachusetts coastal town say that they were warned that flying flags on their own property could violate endangered species laws, sparking outrage in the community just days before the nation's 250th anniversary.
Plum Island homeowners recently received a notice from the Town of Newbury warning that it had "become aware of the use of devices and materials intended to deter" protected shorebirds from using local beach and dune systems. The letter listed "mylar streamers, flags, [and] reflective materials" as examples of such devices.
The letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, goes on to caution that "activities intended to deter protected shorebirds from utilizing suitable habitat may be viewed as harassment or disruption of normal feeding, nesting, or migratory behavior," which is prohibited under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts, and "carry significant regulatory and financial penalties."
"Non-compliance may result in state or federal enforcement actions and, thus, the Town urges residents to comply with applicable state and federal wildlife protection laws," the notice states.
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Longtime residents of the beach community were stunned by the letter, interpreting the inclusion of "flags" as targeting their Independence Day celebrations. Marc Sarkady, who has lived on the island for over 30 years, said he was outraged.
"Are you serious?" Sarkady recounted his reaction, in an interview with Fox News Digital. "You’re telling me I can’t fly American flags on my property to celebrate America 250?"
Sarkady said the area features roughly "10 miles of open beach" completely free of houses where birds can freely roam.
"It’s a nature preserve," he said. "So to us, it’s like, folks, come on, be reasonable."
Town officials, however, told Fox News Digital that they are not prohibiting patriotic displays.
Newbury Town Administrator Tracy Blais said that the town is "not in any way attempting to interfere with the property owner's rights to use their property or to restrict their use of their property for ordinary and patriotic purposes."
According to Blais, the town merely agreed to a request from MassWildlife to help "spread the word" about protecting endangered species.
"The letter merely recited provisions of the law and the Town is not asserting any threat or legal liability — merely reminding property owners that they live in a very special place which comes along with certain responsibilities," Blais said. The town said residents were free to celebrate America's 250th and denied that the letter indicated otherwise.
"The Town is not asserting any rights or control it does not have, and I think the Town's letter is pretty clear on that point," she said in a statement.
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Prior to receiving the letter last week, Sarkady and other community members launched a grassroots effort to distribute American flags and signs to commemorate America's 250th anniversary. They distributed around 50 American flags and around 100 revolutionary-style flag signs reading, "Plum Island Honors America" to residents across the island.
"It's really us trying to bring the island together — everybody, by the way, not left, not right, America, American citizens, and really reaching out. That's really the spirit of what I'm trying to do here," Sarkady explained.
According to Sarkady, this isn't the neighborhood's first clash with officials over beachfront decorations. He claimed that last year, a Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife official sent a nearly identically worded letter to one of his neighbors after she put up ornamental banners on her beachside lawn. He alleged the state official then called her directly, threatening severe penalties if she did not comply — a claim the state agency flatly denied.
"This person actually threatened the citizen from Plum Island, who’s a homeowner with fines and potentially being arrested and put in jail," Sarkady said, adding that the neighbor ultimately took her displays down out of fear. "She felt very threatened."
In response, a MassWildLife spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "MassWildlife is not prohibiting residents from displaying American flags on their property and has not issued any violation letters or notices to these landowners, nor has it taken any action to impose or threaten penalties."
Sarkady and two of his neighbors received the town's latest notice last week, prompting them to contact the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) for assistance.
On Wednesday, the legal group sent a letter to Town of Newbury Conservation Agent Mason Ferrick, stating that the town's demands raised "significant concerns" regarding property rights and the legal basis for its claims.
The PLF letter asks the town to clarify if it is claiming that homeowners are legally prohibited from displaying flags, streamers, or reflective materials on their private property. It also demands the legal basis for how the Massachusetts and federal Endangered Species Acts apply to privately owned beachfront property. According to PLF, no court has ever found a homeowner liable under these endangered species acts for displaying decorations on their private property.
"Flying the red, white, and blue on the Fourth of July is as American as apple pie," Mark Miller, director of Environment and Natural Resources Litigation at Pacific Legal Foundation, said in a press release. "For Massachusetts local officials to claim otherwise violates both the First and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution. As Massachusetts Founding Father John Adams famously said, ‘property must be secured, or liberty cannot exist.’"
In response to the state and local officials' comments, Miller told Fox News Digital, "When governments send letters that look like threats, sound like threats, and walk like threats, they shouldn't be surprised when people take them as threats."
Plum Island in Massachussetts shares its name with another Plum Island off the coast of Long Island in New York. That Plum Island is owned by the United States government and has been used for research and experiments. The two Plum Islands are unrelated.