The Battle Over a North Carolina Beach Continues

Read it here: http://voices.yahoo.com/national-audubon-societys-darker-shade-green-616...

Ted thank you for your article. You went easy on  NPS management.

 Eliminating   ORV use in CHNS was never  considered by the NPS as a starting point for compromise. It should have been . Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge is virtually  a continuation of the same beach as the northern part of Hatteras Island in CHNS. It does not allow vehicles on the beach and is a model of responsible recreational use there.

The Park's last superintendent, Mike Murray, failed with the Negotiated Rule Making Committee. He was in charge of the meetings but  never acted like he was.  He  did everything he could to provide as much ORV access  with the most lenient regulations he could from the moment he became superintendent of CHNS to his input in the final plan. It was obvious that he was either sympathetic or afraid of the ORV  groups. Of course that stands to reason because Mike Murray was hand  picked to be the superintendent in the director of National Parks office while the OBPA board of directors and county officials were present to shake his hand.

A few of the more glaring  problems with the final plan: 

 On VFAs where past fishing tournaments were held previous to the final rule will be  allowed to drive on those beaches in fishing tournaments. This reduces the amount of  VFAs . Northern village pedestrian access users will have to intermittently share the beach with ORVs.  All the fishing tournaments have some component where they raise  money through tournament fees, raffles etc where money is directed  to a fund to promote and  litigate for more ORV access and less resource protection.  What do you think the other side would say if Audubon staged a bird identification contest in CHNS , with entrance fees ,raffles etc and then donated money to litigate for better protection for shore birds in the Park?

ORV density is set at 1 vehicle for every 20 feet of linear shoreline. This is an incredibly lenient carrying capacity and far exceeds the historical context of traditional beach driving before the Park  was established.

The beach in front the National Park's Billy Mitchell and and Oregon Inlet campgrounds are a maze of deep criss crossing tire ruts where campers  are forced to share that limited space in an active ORV route that extends from dune to ocean.

How  ORV use impacts  primitive wilderness was never discussed or considered when ORV routes were designated.  Consequently the majority or the area of CHNS that might have been considered primitive wilderness was  designated as an ORV route.

How ORV routes affect views, smells and sounds of non ORV users were not considered other than the  noise from vehicle engines.

There are serious concerns for visitor safety on some village beaches that up to now will have not had allowed vehicles on them for 30 plus years.

Conservation groups should be the ones up in arms because the final rule is not up to NPS standards.

Disgusted in Va Beach 

Anyone who has been following this issue from the beginning knows that you speak the truth.

Most have realized and accepted that for the benefit of Cape Hatteras National Seashore (CHNS) action had to take palce for it to survive.

There still exists an element that has been doing their best to kill the business of Hatteras Island telling all that the beaches are closed while claiming that the new regulations in place by the NPS are to blame for any loss of business. For the knowing who travel to HI on a regular basis, we know that it is lie that the area is dying because of the NPS final EIS. The pro access radical ORV crowd place their hope in the current CHAPA lawsuit and the pending bills in Congress to overturn the NPS FEIS implementation at CHNS.

There is the Island Free Press blogger who who claims to be a journalist who adds to the resentment for the environmental groups and the National Park Service. This blog is where one of the Dare County Commissioners has regularly made personal attacks by name to members of environmental groups. The said comissioner also smiles in the face of NPS officials while attacking them verbally in blogs and statements. The radical free access ORV group is allowd free rein to make any anti-environmental and/or NPS attack while any posters with a different opinion are readily deleted on the blog.

I doubt that most of the radical ORV access group will ever accept what has been done by the NPS or the environmental groups for the lasting survival of CHNS and will continue to spout their ill will, but in time they will be ignored and blow away like sand in the wind.

I have lived on Hatteras Island for over 30 years, so the pro-ORV crowd can stop saying "you don't live here" etc. The tru native islanders are not a greedy bunch of mean people. BUT the leaders of the pro ORV access are made up mostly of "transplants " with one or two locals involved. These transplants hate the government, although they do accept welfare, food stamps, and are notorious for abusing enemployment benefits during the winter.
to set the record straight, again, the villages of Buxton, Frisco, Hatteras and Avon do exist in the National Park. However the tax receipts and occupancies for rentals in EACH OF THESE VILLAGES are higher than they have ever been. The few tackle shops - IF they are telling the truth- may have reduced revenues. But they have ONLY THEMSELVES SELVES to blame as they have been advertising to their clients for 3 years now that the "beaches are closed so don't come here." When in fact, the beaches were not and are not closed...just a few areas where threatened or endangered
Birds or turtles nest.
There are MANY more supporters of the Park and Audubon living here thank the ORV crowd believes. We just choose to not be mean, greedy, or lie.