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Access Issues |
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March
24, 2008
A roundup of filings, motions, and memoranda in the lawsuit
 In October of last year, the Defenders of Wildlife and the National Audubon Society, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, filed a motion in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. The motion claimed that the National Park Service’s Interim Plan to protect wildlife on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore is inadequate. The complaint went on to say that since the park has no long-range plan for ORV use, as is required by law, that ORV use is illegal and should be prohibited. In December, the judge allowed Dare and Hyde counties and the Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance to intervene in the lawsuit on behalf of the people of Hyde and Dare County and visitors to the seashore. In February, attorneys for the intervenors asked Judge Terrence Boyle to dismiss three of the six claims in the lawsuit by the environmental groups. Also, on Feb. 20, the environmental groups asked that the judge issue a temporary injunction to stop beach driving on the seashore’s most popular recreational beaches until the lawsuit is settled. On March 14, federal attorneys filed a response for the motion for the injunction, as did attorneys for the intervenors. And, also on March 14, the environmental groups filed a memorandum of law in opposition to the intervenors’ request to dismiss some of the claims. We can say that these memoranda, responses, and other filings are not casual reading material, but some of The Island Free Press readers want to be familiar with all of the filings on all sides of this beach access issue. So, if you want to plow through them, we list them below. Some stories about specific filings can be found on this Beach Access Issues Page. And just a reminder of the cast of characters: Plaintiffs – Defenders of Wildlife and National Audubon Society, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center. Defendants – National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Secretary of the Department of Interior, Cape Hatteras National Seashore superintendent, director of USFWS. Defendant/Intervenors – Dare and Hyde counties and the Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance. Judge -- Terrence Boyle, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Northern Division. For the Southern Environmental Law Center complaint against the Park Service, filed Oct. 18, go the SELC Web site and look under legal documents on the right side of the page at the bottom. http://www.southernenvironment.org/cases/hatteras/index.htm To read the request by the environmental groups for a temporary injunction against beach driving, go to the SELC Web site and click on legal documents on the right side of the page at the bottom. http://www.southernenvironment.org/cases/hatteras/index.htm To read the Memorandum of Law by attorney for defendant intervenors (Dare and Hyde counties and the Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance), which was filed on Feb. 21 and asks the court to dismiss many of the claims in the lawsuit, go to: Click Here To Read Memorandum To read the Memorandum of Law, filed by the SELC on March 14, that opposes the motion to dismiss, go to: Click Here To Read Memorandum To read the response to the request for the temporary injunction by federal attorneys: Click here for the complete text of the federal defendants response To read the response to the request for the temporary injunction by the attorneys for the intervenors: To read the complete response from the attorneys for the intervenors, click here: |
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