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Access Issues |
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October 28, 2008
Latest meeting of RegNeg subcommittee on ORV routes is another stalemate
By IRENE NOLAN  The negotiated rulemaking subcommittee on off-road vehicle routes and areas met again on Friday, Oct. 24, to try to reach a consensus on which areas of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore will be open to beach driving and which areas will be limited to pedestrians. And, again, the two sides in the debate could not reach a consensus. The subcommittee submitted two documents to the full RegNeg committee in September. One was submitted by pro-ORV access groups and written by Frank Folb, David Goodwin, and Jim Keene. The other was written by environmental and pedestrian access groups, represented by Sidney Maddock, Burnie Gould, and Destry Jarvis. (For more information on the members and the groups they represent, click on Members of the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee at the end of this article.) The discussion on this subcommittee’s reports at the meeting in September centered on whether all seashore beaches are open to ORVs unless there is a reason to close them, which is the view of access groups, or whether all beaches are closed to ORVs unless there is a reason to open them, which is the view of environmental groups – and, apparently, the National Park Service. Mike Murray, who is the superintendent of the seashore and leads the committee as the designated federal official, noted that the Park Service must comply with executive orders and other laws, but, he noted, “The devil is in the details.” “In looking at the two proposals,” he said, “the Park Service and the solicitors think the one by (the environmental groups) meets the requirements…..A relative overview of the other (access groups’) proposal still sticks with the idea that everything is open….This will not meet the requirements of the executive orders.” Murray said that the orders indicate that areas are closed to ORVs unless they are designated open. “The past practice,” he said, "was that everything was open unless there’s a reason to close it.” Later in the discussion, Murray noted that there has been “a fundamental lack of acceptance” that what the Park Service did in the past was not legally permissible. The ORV access groups reiterated their position that they do not agree to designate any areas as permanently closed. “We don’t want to drive on every inch of this beach,” said Jim Keene of the North Carolina Beach Buggy Association, “but we want every inch designed as drivable.” Murray asked the subcommittee to try again to “explore vigorously” the issues of ORV routes and to come back to the full committee with “something with flexibility.” At last Friday’s subcommittee meeting, the first since the September full committee meeting, the ORV access groups presented a proposal that was basically updated to reflect more beaches that were open to pedestrians only, according to Jim Keene, who represents the North Carolina Beach Buggy Association. Keene said the pro-access groups think the updated proposal “is more in line with Mike’s request” for an agreement that will stand up to legal scrutiny. “We spelled out specific areas that will be for pedestrians only,” he said. He cited new pedestrian-only areas on Bodie Island, north of Buxton, and in Frisco. The proposal put forth by environmental and pedestrian access groups at the subcommittee meeting was mostly unchanged from the one presented to the full committee in September. The proposal still stipulates closing four or more of seven areas of “high ecological value” year round to ORVs and designating them for pedestrians only. The four areas singled out in the report are Bodie Island Spit, Ramp 27-30 south of Salvo, South Beach in Frisco, and South Point on Ocracoke, which is proposed to be a wilderness study area. The subcommittee will meet again, members said, before the next scheduled meeting of the full negotiated rulemaking committee on Nov. 14 and 15 at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills. The subcommittee proposals are “still a work in progress,” said Sidney Maddock, who represents the National Audubon Society on the RegNeg committee. “We hope that future subcommittee negotiations can bring us to a consensus.” CLICK HERE TO VIEW ROUTES AND AREAS PROPOSAL - ORV/ACCESS GROUP CLICK HERE TO VIEW ROUTES AND AREAS PROPOSAL - ENVIRONMENTAL/PEDESTRIAN GROUP FOR MORE INFORMATION Updated List Of Negotiated rulemaking committee members and the organizations they represent http://islandfreepress.org/2008Archives/09.12.2008-NegotiatedRulemakingCommitteeMeetsForTwoDaysButFindsLittleCommonGround.htm http://islandfreepress.org/2008Archives/10.21.2008-ShootingTheBreezeTheProblemsWithTheNegotiatedRulemakingProcess.html |
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