March 12th, 1998

CHILMARK, Mass. (AP) - Nature has taken top billing over Paul Newman and Kevin Costner. Chilmark's Conservation Commission turned down a Warner Bros. request to film scenes for "Message in a Bottle" on Martha's Vineyard. The studio had asked to build a temporary 3,000-square-foot house on stilts in the dunes near Chilmark Pond. The request was approved by state environmental officials, but the conservation commission was concerned about the grass on the beach. Filming was to begin by April 1, and commissioners were afraid the trampled grass would not have time to grow before hurricane season. "The actual letter of the law is very strict: There is to be no alteration of a sand dune that would weaken it to storm erosion," Conservation Commission Chairman Richard Steves said. Lisa Rawlins, a Warner Bros. spokeswoman, said the movie likely will be shot elsewhere in Massachusetts. "There are a number of other places that we are looking at in Massachusetts." It's not the first location flap for the movie, which has Newman playing Costner's father. The studio bid Tangier Island, Va., adieu after the Town Council sought script revisions in exchange for shooting provisions. Some members objected to drinking, sex and cursing in the movie.