{"id":897286,"date":"2026-06-27T21:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T21:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/897286\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T21:27:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T21:27:13","slug":"massachusetts-homeowners-outraged-after-town-warns-july-4-flags-threaten-endangered-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/897286\/","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts homeowners outraged after town warns July 4 flags threaten endangered birds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Residents of a Massachusetts coastal town\u00a0say 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\u2019s 250th anniversary<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Plum Island homeowners<\/a> recently received a notice from the Town of Newbury warning that it had \u201cbecome aware of the use of devices and materials intended to deter\u201d\u00a0protected shorebirds<\/a>\u00a0from using local beach and dune systems. <\/p>\n

The letter listed \u201cmylar streamers, flags, [and] reflective materials\u201d as examples of such devices.<\/p>\n

The letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, goes on to caution that \u201cactivities intended to deter protected shorebirds from utilizing suitable habitat may be viewed as harassment or disruption of normal feeding, nesting, or migratory behavior,\u201d which is prohibited under the state and\u00a0federal Endangered Species Acts,\u00a0and \u201ccarry significant regulatory and financial penalties.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNon-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,\u201d the notice states.<\/p>\n

Longtime residents of the beach community were stunned by the letter, interpreting the inclusion of \u201cflags\u201d as targeting their Independence Day celebrations<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Marc Sarkady, who has lived on the island for over 30 years, said he was outraged.<\/p>\n

Residents of a Massachusetts coastal town\u00a0say that they were warned that flying flags on their own property could violate endangered species laws, sparking outrage in the community. Nathaniel \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you serious?\u201d Sarkady recounted his reaction, in an interview with Fox News Digital. \u201cYou\u2019re telling me I can\u2019t fly American flags<\/a> on my property to\u00a0celebrate America 250<\/a>?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarkady said the area features roughly \u201cten miles of open beach\u201d completely free of houses where birds can freely roam.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a nature preserve,\u201d he said. \u201cSo to us, it\u2019s like, folks, come on, be reasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Town officials, however, told Fox News Digital that they are not prohibiting patriotic displays<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Plum Island homeowners received a notice from the Town of Newbury warning that it had \u201cbecome aware of the use of devices and materials intended to deter\u201d\u00a0protected shorebirds\u00a0from using local beach and dune systems. Portland Press Herald via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Newbury Town Administrator Tracy Blais said that the town is \u201cnot in any way attempting to interfere with the property owner\u2019s rights to use their property or to restrict their use of their property for ordinary and patriotic purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Blais, the town merely agreed to a request from MassWildlife to help \u201cspread the word\u201d about protecting endangered species.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe letter merely recited provisions of the law and the Town is not asserting any threat or legal liability \u2014 merely reminding property owners that they live in a very special place which comes along with certain responsibilities,\u201d Blais said. <\/p>\n

The town said residents were free to celebrate America\u2019s 250th<\/a> and denied that the letter indicated otherwise.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Town is not asserting any rights or control it does not have, and I think the Town\u2019s letter is pretty clear on that point,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Prior to receiving the letter last week, Sarkady and other community members launched a grassroots effort to distribute American flags and signs to commemorate\u00a0America\u2019s 250th anniversary<\/a>. <\/p>\n

They distributed around 50 American flags and around 100 revolutionary-style flag signs reading, \u201cPlum Island Honors America,\u201d to residents across the island.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really us trying to bring the island together \u2014 everybody, by the way, not left, not right, America, American citizens, and really reaching out. That\u2019s really the spirit of what I\u2019m trying to do here,\u201d Sarkady explained.<\/p>\n

According to Sarkady, this isn\u2019t the neighborhood\u2019s first clash with officials over beachfront decorations. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

The town said residents were free to celebrate America\u2019s 250th and denied that the letter indicated otherwise. Wangkun Jia \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

He alleged the state official then called her directly, threatening severe penalties if she did not comply \u2014 a claim the state agency flatly denied.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis person actually threatened the citizen from Plum Island, who\u2019s a homeowner with fines and potentially being arrested and put in jail,\u201d Sarkady said, adding that the neighbor ultimately took her displays down out of fear. \u201cShe felt very threatened.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response, a MassWildLife spokesperson told Fox News Digital, \u201cMassWildlife 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarkady and two of his neighbors received the town\u2019s latest notice last week, prompting them to contact the Pacific Legal Foundation<\/a> (PLF) for assistance.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the legal group sent a letter to Town of Newbury Conservation Agent Mason Ferrick, stating that the town\u2019s demands raised \u201csignificant concerns\u201d regarding\u00a0property rights\u00a0and the legal basis for its claims.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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It also demands the legal basis for how the Massachusetts and federal Endangered Species Acts apply to privately owned beachfront property. <\/p>\n

According to PLF, no court has ever found a homeowner liable under these endangered species acts for displaying decorations on their private property.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlying the red, white, and blue on the Fourth of July<\/a> is as American as apple pie,\u201d Mark Miller, director of Environment and Natural Resources Litigation at Pacific Legal Foundation, said in a press release. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor Massachusetts local officials to claim otherwise violates both the First and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution<\/a>. As Massachusetts Founding Father John Adams famously said, \u2018property must be secured, or liberty cannot exist.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to the state and local officials\u2019 comments, Miller told Fox News Digital, \u201cWhen governments send letters that look like threats, sound like threats, and walk like threats, they shouldn\u2019t be surprised when people take them as threats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plum Island in Massachusetts 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Residents of a Massachusetts coastal town\u00a0say that they were warned that flying flags on their own property could…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":897287,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[23],"tags":[25417,5307,19528,30341,9562,746,10202,11194,2739,10558,159,67,132,68,1154],"class_list":["post-897286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-america-250","tag-american-flag","tag-birds","tag-endangered","tag-endangered-species","tag-environment","tag-fourth-of-july","tag-homeowners","tag-massachusetts","tag-property","tag-science","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-us-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116824194667405380","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=897286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/897287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=897286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=897286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=897286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}