Two stories of note on beach erosion in today’s Boston Globe.

The first one talks about how hard the beach was hit this winter.

Shifting sands are a fact of life on outer Cape Cod, and the endless pulse of summer waves is expected to gradually restore much or all of beach losses. But coastal geologists said the endless fury of this winter’s storms had a greater than usual impact, eating away enormous pieces of beach from Salisbury to the more-sheltered Brewster on Cape Cod Bay.

The second talks about an attempt by the National Seashore to give the public access to Cape Cod beach shacks on public land that have been leased to the same families for years.

“The government cannot lease government-owned properties exclusively to a hand-picked family,‘’ said William Burke, park historian for the National Seashore. "It has to be an open, fair, and competitive process.’’

The 18 shacks, about half of which are used by nonprofit groups, were taken by eminent domain by the Park Service more than 30 years ago. Residents who handed over their shacks were paid fair market value, while those who opted for 25-year or lifetime lease agreements received smaller payouts. Although they are not charged rent, the residents are obligated to pay town property taxes.

Both stories raise the point of coastal development and the battle between beach and building. For more see the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University.