Community Corner
Photo Shoot On Island Beach State Park Dunes Stirs Anger
Park advocates and environmentalists say walking on the dunes can kill the plants that make the structures stable and provide protection.

ISLAND BEACH STATE PARK, NJ — Do you know who these people are?
A photo shoot at Island Beach State Park on Sunday aroused the ire of environmentalists and others who saw the group standing on the top of one of the park's dunes.
Helen Henderson, the Atlantic Coast Programs manager for the American Littoral Society, posted photos Sunday evening showing a group of people conducting some sort of photo shoot on top of the dunes at the park.
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Signs throughout the park tell visitors to stay off the dunes, which are critical to the stability of the environment at the park. Not only do they create a natural protection to the bayside areas during hurricanes and other severe weather, the dunes, which have more than 400 varieties of plants, are home to the many species of wildlife that inhabit the park.
Henderson said the group got off the dunes as soon as she spoke to them and took the photos.
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"So many beautiful places you could shoot photos other than the dunes," Henderson said by email. "I don’t understand."
"Dune building is a gradual process and plants play an important role in dune formation," the website IslandBeach.org notes. "Roots stabilize the dune and above-ground plant structures intercept and trap more sand. Dunes can form without plants but they will be smaller than the potential size they could reach if plants were able to establish and grow. If you take away the plants from a well developed dune, it becomes less stable and is likely to decrease in size."
"In Island Beach State Park you will see signs that say do not walk on the dunes. This protects the plants from being crushed and killed, which in turn helps the dune remain stable," the site says.
The group in the photo appears to be conducting a professional photo shoot. Two women appear to be modeling in swimsuits along with four or five photographers and two other people carrying gear.
Commercial uses of the park require a special permit, which includes a $150 fee for New Jersey residents, $200 for nonresidents of the state, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.
It was not known Sunday evening whether any organization had a permit for a photo shoot.
There have been issues in the past with overzealous photographers — both professional and amateur — climbing on the dunes to get pictures of snowy owls. Two winters ago there were so many sightings that people flocked to the park to get a glimpse of the birds.
Photographers and models stand on top of a dune at Island Beach State Park Sunday. Photo by Helen Henderson, used with permission
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