Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-08-11
iChncoteague Watching Assateaeue's Fate
BY ALEX r. PRESTON
Star staff Writer

w OAiC pcOplc O1 CLllS EdSCern
Shore sportsmen's paradise
who have experienced alternate
periods Of boom and bust al
the whims Of the military and
coastal storms.
To understand why, one must
realize that Chincoteague is q
T.5-mile island four miles of
the mainland but still blocked
from direct access to the At
lantic Ocean by the southern
end Of Assateague. A narrow
inlet separates the two.
AsSateague is q nearly-bar-
rem sand strip fronting the
ocean for 80 miles beginning
at Ocean City, Md. About 20
miles Of the barrier lies in
Maryland and the remaining
portion is in Virginia.
At 2 pm. Thursday, the
Maryland Board Of Public
Works will hold q hearing in
the Baltimore Civic Center on
a proposal by Secretary of the
Interior Udall to acquire all OF
that States portion of ASA
league as a national seashore
park and wildlife refuge.
1850 Lots Bought
Opposing this move are some
$500 persons who bought A.
500 lots for private develop
ment.
Mr.. Udall's Fish and Wild
life Service already owns all of
the Virginia portion Of ASA
league and has established a
refuge there.
mo matter what they decide
to do in Maryland, I don't see
how we can lose," said Chin
colleagues Mayor Robert N.
Reed.
His view reflected that Of
many residents here who now
are turning to tourism as their
main economic base to aug
ment the two other leading in
dustries Of chicken farming
land commercial fishing.
Attractions Promoted
While Maryland's private
property owners and the State
have haggled for years over
building a bridge to their end
of Assateague - now reached
only by an unscheduled ferry
tVirginians have forged ahead
with q bridge of their own
and are intensively promoting
the islands resort attractions.
Mayor Reed heads the Chin
coteague-Assateague Bridge
and Beach Authority which
swas created by the Virginia
General Assembly and au-
'thorized to issue revenue bonds
to pay for construction Of a
toll bridge between Chinco-
league and Assateague.
. The bridge and connecting
roads were opened last Sep
TENDER with a round-trip toll
of SIPS.
: The authority, meanwhile,
obtained a lease from the Fish
and Wildlife Service to operate
the southern five miles Of AS
,sateague Island for public rec
reation.
"If the Government takes
over the Maryland portion Of
the island and builds a free
bridge at that end" Mayor
Reed said, "our authority
would have to go out of bust
ness. They would buy us out
and we could pay off the
bonds"
4 But. the way Mr.. Reed fig
ures it, the economy of Chin
colleague itself would be helped
regardless Of what happens In
Maryland. If the island remains
in its present status, it can
be reached by bridge only at
the Virginia end.
On the other hand, If the
Government builds a free
bridge to the Maryland end and
follows through with a road
running the length of ASA
league, this also would bring
many sportSmen and tourists
into Chincoteague.
Our prime purpose in
creating the authority was to
help the community" Mr.. Reed
said. II think that what we
already have done is going to
do our economy more good
than any industry"
Visitors Increase
Roy Tolbert, a member of the
authority who serves as general
manager Of the bridge and
beach project, said that traffic
to the island is steadily In
creasing and that in July, the
best month to date, $3.50 cars
and seven buses visited the
island.
All Of this traffic is chan
nelled through Chincoteague.
About eight miles of ASA
league from the Maryland line
south to the public use area, is
blocked off to vehicular traffic.
At least twice in recent
years, this area has been
severely hit by coastal storms,
flooding downtown streets and
doing millions of dollars in
damage to property and crops.
The Government since has re-
built protective sand dunes
from one end Of Assateague to
the other.
Chincoteague's economy suf-
fered another major blow In
1858 when the Navy announced
In December that it was closing
its huge Chincoteague Naval
Air Station just across the
causeway on the mainland.
THAT was a terrible setback
for the people here" Mayor
Reed said. with the notice
coming as 1t did in the holi-