National Park Service weekly beach access report
This
report is issued each week by the National Park Service during the
nesting and pre-nesting season for shorebirds and turtles. It details
which areas of the beach are closed to ORVs and pedestrians to protect
natural resources in the park. It also includes areas of the
beach that are off limits to ORVs because of safety concerns or
seasonal closures in front of the villages. ....Read
more
 Reward offered for information about closure vandals
The
United Four Wheel Drive Association and the Blue Ribbon Coalition are
offering a $1,000 reward for specific information leading to the arrest
and conviction of the person or persons who are responsible for the
vandalism for resource protection signs on the South Beach at Frisco.
Anyone
having information should contact United Four Wheel Drive Association
at 757-546-7969, the Blue Ribbon Coalition at 208-237-1008, or Park
Service ranger David Carter at 252-475-8326.
Each person
submitting information will receive a code number to use in tracking
the status of the tip. Tips can be submitted anonymously. No caller ID
is used and callers need not identify themselves.
Vandalism of resource protection closure signs results in expansion of buffer
Vandalism
of symbolic fencing marking a shorebird closure in the South Beach area
of Cape Hatteras National Seashore was discovered early Saturday
morning. Approximately 1.7 miles east of Ramp 49 in Frisco, a
park ranger patrolling the area discovered and documented 12 posts with
“Area Closed” signs broken off at the sand line and several
Carsonite closure markers pulled out at the shoreline. ...Read
more
Background information on establishment of the national seashore
Several readers have asked The Island Free Press to publish information
online about the establishment of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore
and what exactly was promised by the U.S. Congress in the 1937 enabling
legislation and later by Conrad Wirth, who was director of the National
Park Service when the seashore was established in 1953. The PDF file
below contains the enabling legislation, the 1940 legislation changing
the name from “national seashore” to “national
seashore recreational area,” and the famous “Open Letter to
the People of the Outer Banks,” by NPS director Wirth that was
published in a 1952 issue of The Coastland Times. There are also
other interesting bits of information.
All of this information is from an exhibit in the litigation on beach
driving that was compiled by law firms representing the
defendant-intervenors – Dare and Hyde counties and the Cape
Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance.
Information on the establishment of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore
National Park Service weekly resource management summary
This
report is issued each week by the National Park Service during the
nesting and pre-nesting season. It details the observations of the
park’s staff about the bird and turtle nesting activity on
the
seashore beaches, including Bodie Island, Hatteras, and Ocracoke. It
also includes other field observations, such as turtle strandings, and
a summary of violations of closures that have been issued for the week.
....Read
more
Park Service closes more of the South Beach near Cape Point
The National Park Service today closed more of the South Beach near
Cape Point to ORVs and pedestrians. The closure is more bad news for
surf fishermen since it comes at the height of the spring fishing
season and for beachcombers and other recreational users of the
seashore’s beaches. It also has business owners worried about
economic fallout and some visitors deciding whether or not to continue
to vacation on Hatteras and Ocracoke. ....Read
more
Three popular areas closed to ORVs under consent decree
The National Park Service today closed down three popular areas on the
Cape Hatteras National Seashore to off-road vehicles. They are the
first major closures under the terms of a consent decree that was
signed last week by U.S. District Court Judge Terrence W. Boyle and
that ended a contentious legal battle over ORV access on the seashore. ....Read
more
 Seashore leader files information
on the eve of hearing
Federal
attorneys filed a “declaration” by Cape Hatteras
National
Seashore Superintendent Mike Murray late today in U.S. District Court
in Raleigh on the eve of a hearing on the contentious issue of ORV
access at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. In
it, he says ORV access will be “significantly
reduced” under a proposed consent decree.
....Read
more
National Park Service responds to judge’s second round of
questions
In
their response to questions from a federal judge today, the attorneys
for the National Park Service said that additional resources to
implement the consent order are “feasible,” that
public
access to parking is a more significant factor than alternative
transportation to the beach, that there are no plans for a public
comment period on the consent decree. ....Read
more
A flurry of activity today in ORV lawsuit case in federal court
The federal courthouse in Raleigh was busy today with numerous filings
in the continued legal wrangling over ORV use at the Cape Hatteras
National Seashore. ....Read
more
Judge in ORV lawsuit orders more information from Park
Service…UPDATED
U.S.
District Court Judge Terrence W. Boyle has ordered the National Park
Service to provide more information before he approves the settlement
of the legal action over off-road vehicle use on the Cape Hatteras
National Seashore. However, he cancelled a meeting with the
National Park Service that had been scheduled for Monday, April 21.
....Read
more
 Guest Column….ORV rulemaking was out
of public sight, but the settlement is very visible
This settlement is an environmental regulation ordered by the court
without public review and comment, with no consideration of economic
impact and with no hard look at the scientific basis for numerous
technically related requirements found in the document. Yet,
this
agreement will significantly change our way of life and access to the
seashore. ....Read
more
Reaction to ORV settlement is
varied
Reaction to the proposed settlement of the lawsuit challenging the
National Park Service’s interim protected species plan has
been
varied. ....Read
more
ORV access supporters are raising funds for legal fees
Supporters
of ORV access to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore have revved up
their efforts to raise funds to fight a lawsuit by environmental groups
against the National Park Service that threatens to curtail access to
popular recreational beaches. ....Read
more
NC State study links beach driving to oystercatcher mortality
According to a media release from the Southern Environmental Law
Center, a recent study by members of the zoology department at North
Carolina State University shows a direct correlation between beach
driving and mortality rates of American oystercathers, a species of
shorebird that nests on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. See the
press release and read the NC state study. ....Read
more
Transcript of April 4 meeting in
Boyle’s courtroom now available
If you couldn’t make it to Raleigh last Friday, April 4, for
a
meeting in the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle in
the case of a lawsuit over the future of beach driving on the
Cape Hatteras National Seashore, you can now read it all here on The
Island Free Press. ....Read
more
Surfers weigh in on threatened beach closures
Many
people have rallied to protest the potential closure of popular
portions of Cape Hatteras National Seashore to ORV use, and surfers
have been no exception. They have been fighting behind the
lines.
....Read
more
 More than
600 turn out to hear about looming threat to beach access
The
Fessenden Center gym was packed on Thursday night, March 27, with
islanders, property owners, and visitors who want information on a
request by environmental groups to ban popular areas of The Cape
Hatteras National Seashore to off-road vehicles. ....Read
more
New Web site focuses on Hatteras and Ocracoke beach access
A
new Web site aims to spread the word about threats to beach access and
give concerned citizens a way to voice their opinions to decision
makers via a PleaCast. ....Read
more
Guest Column…Rob Alderman, the “general”
of the Hatteras Island Fishing Militia, rallies the troops
Rob
Alderman, the creator of the Hatteras Island Fishing Militia Web site
and the “Outer Banks Angler” on cable television
and the
organizer of the celebration of beach access rally on March 22, gives
The Island Free Press its first video guest column. It’s an
unusual presentation, but then we are an Internet newspaper.
The video is a commentary entitled “Please help
us,” and
Alderman says it is a continuation of the fight against special
interest groups, such as Defenders of Wildlife, the National Audubon
Society, and the Southern Environmental Law Center, all of whom want to
curtail ORV access to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore
beaches. In a lawsuit, the groups filed last October, they
claimed that the National Park Service was not adequately protecting
shorebirds, including the threatened piping plover, and that ORV use on
seashore beaches is illegal.
To see Alderman’s video guest column:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGu1x7IsyUs
 A
roundup of filings, motions, and memoranda in the lawsuit
All the legal maneuvering you could possibly want to read in the
lawsuit by the environmental groups against the National Park Service
over natural resource protection and ORV issues. ....Read
more
PLEASE HELP US!!! A
message in the sand is a plea for continued beach access
Rob
Alderman, the general of the Hatteras Island Fishing Militia Web site,
stood on Cape Point this bright March morning. The sunshine
reflected off his shaved head, as he looked out over the crowd that had
assembled.
“Don’t you just love it when a plan comes
together?” he asked.
The plan was to gather vehicles and people at the Point, the most
famous fishing spot on the East Coast, for a celebration of beach
access.
About 600 vehicles and some 1,500 people showed up for the event.
....Read
more
What Island Free Press readers say about beach access issues
Scores of Island Free Press readers have shared their views on the
ongoing issue of ORV access to our beaches. They are
sometimes
thoughtful and sometimes nostalgic but always interesting and
emotional. ....Read Letters
to the editor
 The fox on the
beach: More public comment
Rob Alderman of Buxton, who runs the Web site Hatteras Island Fishing
Militia and also produces and stars in a cable television show,
“The Outer Banks Angler,” spoke during public
comment
sessions at both days of the March negotiated rulemaking session in
Avon. However, it was on the second day – Wednesday, March 19
– that he really got the attention of the committee members
and
islanders who were there to listen to comments. ....Read
more
Commissioner Judge challenges groups to drop the lawsuit and negotiate
Warren Judge, chairman of the Dare County Board of Commissioners, asked
environmental groups that are suing the National Park Service and
others over ORV use on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore to drop the
lawsuits and negotiate a solution to the access issues. ....Read
more
 Islanders
have lots to say to negotiated rulemaking committee members
About
a dozen islanders spoke during the public comment sessions of the
negotiated rulemaking committee meeting in Avon on Tuesday and
Wednesday, March 18 and 19.
They were straight talking, sometimes emotional, and minced no words as
they addressed the 30 members of the group that will develop a
long-term plan to regulate off-road vehicles on the Cape Hatteras
National Seashore. Several spoke at the sessions both days. ....Read
more
Threat of beach closures hangs over negotiated rulemaking meeting
The
committee charged with negotiating a long-term rule on off-road vehicle
use on Cape Hatteras National Seashore beaches had its third meeting in
Avon on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 18 and 19. And the
request
for a temporary injunction to ban driving on popular parts of the beach
by environmental groups with members on the committee was the elephant
in the room.
The threat of the injunction was discussed by many of the 30 committee
members during breaks, came up during official committee discussions,
and dominated the sometimes very emotional public comment periods both
days. ....Read
more
Attorneys for Dare, Hyde, and CHAPA weigh in on injunction request
The
attorneys for Dare and Hyde counties and the Cape Hatteras Access
Preservation Alliance (CHAPA) have filed an aggressive response to a
request by environmental groups to close popular areas of the seashore
beaches to off-road vehicles while negotiating continues for a
long-term plan to regulate ORV access.
The response concludes
that the environmental groups have not met the tests for the
“extraordinary remedy” of an injunction to close
beaches.
The
response was filed on Friday, March 14, in U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of North Carolina, the same day that federal attorneys
filed their response for the National Park Service and other federal
defendants.
However, the difference in the two responses is the difference between
night and day. ....Read
more
Park
Service responds to request for injunction to close beaches
The
National Park Service today responded in U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of North Carolina to a request by environmental groups
to close popular areas of the seashore beaches to off-road vehicles
while negotiating continues for a long-term plan to regulate ORV access.
“Federal
Defendants do not dispute that....ORV use is unauthorized at the
seashore in the absence of a special regulation designating ORV routes
and areas,” according to the response filed by federal
attorneys. ....Read
more
Several hundred people gather at Cape Point to celebrate beach access
The
weather was not pretty today on Hatteras Island, but there were about
200 people and 100 or so vehicles at Cape Point – not to fish
or
surf or kiteboard but to celebrate their access to this beach, the most
popular on Hatteras Islandn. ....Read
more
Read a transcript of Judge Terrence Boyle’s scheduling
conference on ORV issues
U.S.
District Court Judge Terrence Boyle met with attorneys for all sides in
a lawsuit over the National Park Service’s interim protected
species plan in his Raleigh courtroom on Friday, Feb. 22. The
meeting was a scheduling conference on the October lawsuit by
environmental groups and had been planned before a Feb. 20 request by
the groups for a preliminary injunction to ban ORV use on popular
seashore beaches until the lawsuit is settled. Both issues are
discussed in the transcript.
....Read
more
Many on Outer Banks fear possibility of a ban on off-road vehicles
When
it’s quitting time on many Friday afternoons at Chris
Wilson's
job, he dashes to his Virginia Beach home, fetches his wife, jumps in
his truck and high-tails it down to the Outer Banks to surf-fish at
Cape Point. "We're down there by 5, 6 o'clock," said Wilson, a
groundskeeper at the Princess Anne Athletic Complex. "We set up for the
weekend and we have a good ol' time."
An article
by Catherine Kozak for The Virginian-Pilot.
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/03/many-outer-banks-fear-possibility-ban-offroad-vehicles
Groups
call for change in beach driving plan
Two
environmental groups asked a federal judge on Wednesday to throw out
parts of an interim off-road vehicle management plan in Cape Hatteras
National Seashore and replace them with more restrictive measures.
The
Southern Environmental Law Center, representing the Defenders of
Wildlife and the National Audubon Society, filed a request for a
preliminary injunction against beach driving at the most sensitive bird
nesting areas on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands.
By
Catherine Kozak in The Virginian-Pilot:
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/02/groups-call-change-hatteras-beach-driving-plan
Federal judge asked to restrict
driving to save breeding season on Hatteras
Conservationists
are asking a federal judge to suspend beach driving on portions of the
Cape Hatteras National Seashore that have been identified as being most
critical to threatened and endangered shorebirds in order to protect
them before the upcoming breeding season begins. The Southern
Environmental Law Center, representing Defenders of Wildlife and the
National Audubon Society, filed for a preliminary injunction in U.S.
District Court requesting that beach driving be halted along
approximately 12 percent of the shoreline to allow birds to nest and
raise chicks. The requested closures were recommended by the Park
Service's own scientists and are vital to a successful breeding season
in 2008.
http://www.southernenvironment.org/newsroom/2008/02-20_hatteras_prelimin.htm
To Read the
Plaintiff's Motion For Preliminary Injuction, click here::
02.20.08-MotionForPreliminaryInjunction.pdf
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