CHATHAM — Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge Manager Rick Nye is hoping he'll never have to measure the distance from his visitor center to the edge of a rapidly eroding coastal bluff. 

Ever since the April Fool's Day break in the barrier beach that once protected its Morris Island headquarters, the refuge has lost a half-acre building lot of bluff, from five to 10 feet a year in some locations, 40 feet in a year in others.

Gone are a popular bluff-top trail and the stairway that once dropped down to a beach that was used by locals, visitors, fishermen and the staff. The stairs provided access to the boats that sat on moorings just off the beach and were used to reach the refuge itself on Monomoy Island, as well as the research and guided tours in its teeming bird colonies. 

The remaining bluff is now denuded of trees after refuge staff had them removed rather than see them tumble over the edge and into the channel that now connects the Atlantic Ocean to Stage Harbor and Nantucket Sound. 

Cape Cod National Seashore:Programs reduced for the season, while increasing work on construction projects

Coastal Resources Director Ted Keon said that erosion in that location is compounded by a strong current. Along the Outer Cape beaches, sand eroded from the face of a dune or a coastal bluff is redeposited on the beach adding protection from future storms. But a swift moving current like that occurring at the refuge sweeps that sand away.

"Our last measurement was 92 feet (to the edge of the bluff) from the corner of the (dorm) building," Nye said Tuesday. New restrooms, built just before the pandemic, remain closed and never used. They are also about 90 feet away from the edge.

On a normal day the high tide laps at the toe of the bluff. Storms, particularly those that drive waves and currents through the breach from the Southeast, smooth off the rounded shoreline like a carpenter's plane.

'A sense of urgency':Cape Cod action needed on climate change, commission maps a plan

Nye said he anticipates he'll have to close the dorm to use in the coming year.

"If I get to use the dorm next summer (2022), I'm not counting on it for the summer after," Nye said. With erosion at the point of the bluff closest to the dorm building proceeding at 10 to 15 feet a year, he is worried about getting heavy equipment in to demolish or move the structure. Nye is already arranging for a paved road, parking and storage area to be removed. When the distance reaches 65 feet he'll have to close the dorm to use, he said.

Earlier this year, the National Weather Service demolished its weather station located in the same area of the refuge headquarters when the cliff edge came within 32 feet.

Decision to demolish:Erosion topples trees, threatens weather station in Chatham

Nye said he hasn't measured the distance to the main refuge building, holding out hope that Morris Island will fall within the protective shadow of the barrier beach on the northern edge of the main harbor entrance that has been creeping south, as migrating sand once again strives to close the breach.

"That's why I'm hoping I'll never have to measure the distance to the visitor center," Nye said. That hope may be a longshot.

"The most recent estimate I heard was that it might take 10, maybe 15, years before there is enough growth out there to slow the erosion here," Nye said. Keon said relief could come from the barrier beach especially if it reconnects with Morris Island as it has in the past.

When and if that relief happens is anybody's guess, Keon said.

Despite COVID closures:4.1M visitors flocked to Cape Cod National Seashore last year

 The loss of the trail and direct access to the beach from the visitor center has affected visitors. In 2019, prior to the pandemic and when the public could still use the clifftop trail and beach stairs, the refuge recorded 67,000 visitors who walked the boardwalk on the trail.

A trail counter in the right-of-way trail to the beach from a nearby private road showed around 40,000 visitors in 2020. While that may still seem within range of the higher number, Nye pointed out that other park and trail areas recorded high numbers of visitors during the pandemic, reflecting the desire to get out of the house and outdoors.   

Follow Doug Fraser on Twitter:@dougfrasercct