Residents of a tight-knit Massachusetts island community are reeling after being warned by local officials that displaying American flags for the nations 250th birthday could expose them to serious legal and financial penalties.
According to Gateway Pundit, the controversy erupted after homeowners on Plum Island, part of the town of Newbury, received a formal notice last week alerting them that the town had identified multiple devices and materials intended to deter protected shorebirds from using nearby beaches and dunes. The letter, citing state and federal wildlife protections, specifically listed mylar streamers, flags, and reflective materials as problematic, immediately raising alarms among residents preparing for large-scale patriotic celebrations.
The notice warned that activities intended to deter protected shorebirds from utilizing suitable habitat may be viewed as harassment or disruption of normal feeding, nesting, or migratory behavior, conduct that is forbidden under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts and that can carry significant regulatory and financial penalties. It further cautioned that non-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.
When Fox News visited the island to speak with residents, many said they were stunned to see flags lumped in with alleged harassment devices. Are you serious?! asked longtime resident Marc Sarkady, who has lived on Plum Island for more than three decades, adding, Youre telling me I cant fly American flags on my property to celebrate America 250?
Sarkady noted that the island offers ample habitat for wildlife far from private homes, observing that there were 10 miles of open beach without houses where the birds could freely congregate. He and his neighbors had already invested time and effort into planning a robust Fourth of July observance to honor the nations 250th anniversary before the towns letter arrived and cast a shadow over their preparations.
From Fox News: Prior to receiving the letter last week, Sarkady and other community members launched a grassroots effort to distribute American flags and signs to commemorate Americas 250th anniversary. They distributed around 50 American flags and around 100 revolutionary-style flag signs reading, Plum Island Honors America to residents across the island.
Sarkady described the initiative as explicitly unifying and nonpartisan, aimed at celebrating shared national identity rather than political division. Its really us trying to bring the island together everybody, by the way, not left, not right, America, American citizens, and really reaching out. Thats really the spirit of what Im trying to do here, he explained.
Town officials, facing backlash, have since tried to distance themselves from the perception that they are banning patriotic displays, including the flying of American flags. Yet the explicit reference to flags in the context of enforcement threats has left many residents skeptical that this is merely a misunderstanding rather than another instance of bureaucratic overreach targeting traditional expressions of patriotism.
Newbury Town Administrator Tracy Blais said the town had simply agreed to a request from MassWildlife to help spread the word about protecting endangered species along the coastline. That explanation has done little to calm concerns among homeowners who see a pattern of state and local authorities using environmental regulations as a pretext to curtail ordinary, lawful use of private property.
Sarkady recounted that a Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife official sent a threatening letter to one of his neighbors last year after she placed ornamental banners on her beachside lawn. He said the language in that earlier communication was almost identical to the wording in the recent notice about flags, suggesting a broader enforcement strategy rather than an isolated warning.
According to Sarkady, the same state official later phoned his neighbor directly and vowed serious penalties if she did not remove the decorations. For residents of Plum Island, the episode has become a flashpoint in a larger debate over whether unelected regulators and town bureaucrats should have the power to intimidate citizens for displaying the American flag on their own property, especially as the country approaches a historic milestone meant to honor its founding ideals of liberty and self-government.
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