DAN'S PAPERS, March 27, 2009 Page 22 www.danshamptons.com (continued from previous page)
Disturbing. Deer collars brought better results. Scrolling down, there it was! The photo showing the exact ensemble I’d seen in North Haven was on the website of the Cornell Cooperative Extension. As it turns out, wasn’t jewelry. These are ID tags and GPS devices. In the first quarter of 2009, the Cooperative captured deer in cages or nets. Males and females were fitted with numbered ear tags. In addition, at least 10 females in North Haven were given GPS collars. According to the site, “Research staff will monitor the deer fitted with collars regularly. A vehicle equipped with antennas, receiver and other field equipment will be seen frequently during the day and night in the community.” That seems like a lot of work to find out what parties the deer are going to. Granted, there are some celebrities in North Haven, like Jimmy Buffett and John Stewart, but like most residents there, they keep a low profile and would not be happy about paparazzi (let alone a vehicle outfitted for a lunar landing) harassing their guests. Maybe the Cooperative is more interested in monitoring underage drinking of fawns, or adult deer becoming inebriated and getting involved in car accidents. Hopefully, someone will get to the bottom of this. Preventing accidents is a valid rationale for such antics. But if it’s a celebrity stake out, well, that type of privacy invasion is just bad manners.
Copters
(continued from page 17)
unto itself the right to regulate the national airspace as provided under the preemption clause of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, and has designated the FAA to administer those regulations. Accordingly, only the FAA is authorized to regulate the operation of aircraft,” said Chris Dancy, media relations director of Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, a group that has vocally opposed Romaine’s efforts to place restrictions on helicopters flying through our area. “The U.S. air transportation system is the safest in the world. AOPA believes that strict adherence to and enforcement of federal aviation regulations is the best way to maintain that level of safety and opposes any efforts, however well-intentioned, that could undermine a uniform application of those federal standards.” And in a 2007 letter to the Town of Southold, Gregory Pecoraro, vice president of regional affairs for AOPA wrote, “all of the navigable airspace in this country is within the sole domain of federal regulation. Congress has acted to vest the FAA with exclusive responsibility for managing the nation’s navigable airspace, and federal courts have upheld this principle on several occasions.” But, Romaine charges, the FAA hasn’t done much to stop the noise on the East End. “I’d love to see the FAA do its job,” he said. “The FAA is posing no restrictions on helicopters in the most crowded flight space in the world.” Helicopter noise has long been a sore point for East Enders. With the twin forks being an
ideal location for second homes for the affluent, these same people have the means to charter a helicopter to fly them out here for their extended jaunts. However, when Bishop and Schumer negotiated a minimum altitude for helicopters, they also convinced helicopter operators to change their flight patterns. Now, helicopters flying from Manhattan to any of the three, main East End heliports — East Hampton Airport, Gabreski Airport in Westhampton and the Southampton Village heliport — fly mostly along the North Shore of Long Island before dipping down to the South Fork. So now the bulk of the noise complaints are generated on the North Fork and Shelter Island. “We encourage any efforts by the state, county or federal government to limit helicopter noise,” said Dan McCormick, deputy attorney for the Town of Riverhead, who said the town fields many phone calls complaining about helicopter noise. “We applaud any efforts to address the altitude of helicopter activity. Something clearly needs to get done about this in [Riverhead].” The first public hearing regarding Romaine’s new helicopter legislation will have taken place as of press time (March 24), but the legislator is hoping a vote can happen prior to the summer, which is invariably when helicopter trips to the East End increase. There will likely be several more public hearings prior to a vote. Those who want to speak out can check the County’s meeting calendar.
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