Doug Fraser @dougfrasercct

ORLEANS The chicks are back, and many off-road vehicle trails across Cape Cod have been either fully closed or dramatically shortened.

The gate swung shut on summer at 6 a.m. Wednesday, well before it officially started, on the sandy trails leading south from Orleans' Nauset Beach.It's a rite of the start to the Cape's busiest season that many off-road enthusiasts would prefer was unnecessary.

But Orleans Natural Resources manager Nathan Sears said he hopes his staff can start escorting vehicles past plover nesting areas by July 15 under a statewide habitat conservation plan approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year.

The plan provides protection for piping plovers, listed as a species threatened with extinction under both the federal and state endangered species laws, while allowing conditional vehicle access to beach areas.

The habitat plan option used by Orleans allows escorted convoys to proceed past up to two plover broods or nests and past up 20 unfledged least tern chicks, considered a species of special concern by the state. Sears was hoping the trail system might reopen without the need for escorts by Aug. 5.

The northern trail system, which serves only Orleans residents and taxpayers, and gives them access to the Nauset Spit, will not close until June 30, when a chick is expected to hatch near the access road. It takes 26 to 30 days for the chick to learn to fly and better be able to avoid oncoming vehicles.

Before the drive to create the statewide habitat conservation plan program, Nauset Beach was closing down for almost the entire summer year after year.

Photo Gallery: Plovers in peril

Sandy Neck Beach Park manager Nina Coleman worked out a different option under the habitat plan.

Concerned that the entirety of the trail system could be shut down with birds nesting at trail chokepoints, Coleman opted to be able to use methods to discourage nesting in certain areas, like a towed rake, allowing vehicles to carve out a wider trail, and sections of plywood placed over the sand, if necessary.

In doing so, Coleman and her staff were able to keep 1.1 miles open, after which the nesting sites were too concentrated, she said. Under the conditions of the habitat plan for Sandy Neck, her staff cannot escort vehicles except for camp owners who need to access their homes.

They were always allowed to be escorted,Coleman said.

Dennis officials said all their town's trails remain open for the time being.

All of the Cape Cod National Seashore over-sand trails are closed due to unfledged plover chicks, with the exception of two-tenths of a mile at what is known as the Pole Line ORV Access trail,North District Chief Ranger Craig Thatcher said.

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Most Cape beaches off limits to ORVs - Cape Cod Times (subscription)