Back in July I predicted that the managers of Cape Hatteras National Seashore would be sued for allowing off-road vehicles to navigate the seashore without a valid ORV management plan in place.
Well, that lawsuit has arrived in court.
Defenders of Wildlife and the National Audubon Society have joined forces to bring the lawsuit, arguing that the seashore is not adequately protecting the nests of sea turtles and shorebirds. The lawsuit contends the National Park Service has run afoul of the National Park Organic Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the enabling legislation for the seashore, and the Park Service's own Management Policies by implementing an interim ORV management plan and failing to produce a long-term management plan.
The National Park Service’s Interim Plan and the ORV use it allows are substantially harming – and will continue to harm – important populations of endangered and threatened sea turtle species, threatened, special concern, or significantly rare bird species, and a threatened plant species, as well as other natural resources, serenity, and other recreational uses of the Seashore generally, reads one of the claims.
"No one wants to deny the rights of fishermen and families to enjoy beaches along the National Seashore, but our beaches are turning into highways," said Derb Carter, an attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center that brought the lawsuit. "In the meantime, the Park Service has stood idly by, shirking its responsibility" to institute rules.
What's disturbing about this turn of events is that Interior officials were well aware this past summer that they were treading on dangerous legal ground by continuing to allow ORVs to cruise along the seashore even though Cape Hatteras did not have a management plan in place. Even Mike Murray, the seashore's superintendent, realized the ORV use was illegal.
"It's a clear statement that there's no authority to allow off-road vehicle driving on the beach," Mr. Murray said after a federal judge noted, in a case of reckless driving on the seashore, that the seashore didn't have regulations in place to govern ORV travel. "Under federal regulations and executive orders, the Park Service needs to develop an ORV management plan and regulations."
It would seem that the Park Service and Interior Department prefer to spend tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, on legal costs while jeopardizing nesting sea birds and turtles rather than offending a special interest group.
Comments
One needs to understand that Cape Hatteras was established as the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreation Area. This has never been officially changed and stands to this day. Note *Recreational*.
Vehicular driving on the beach predates the establishment of this park and ORV access is a vital component to what attract many of the visiting public: fishing, wind boarding, shell picking, bird watching, etc, etc.
Seasonally there are large areas closed to ORV access for pedestrian safety and bird and turtle protection and there are many areas that closed year round.
The beach is not "ruined" as ORVs are confined to a narrow corridor of sand along the seashore and, with each storm, the evidence of ORVs is wiped clean.
And I will you assure you the areas with ORV access are "cleaner" than those w/o since it's common practice for ORV users to clean-up the area during their stay.
CHNSRA was established for recreational multi-use and to preserve the beauty of the northern Outer Banks. Under the management of Super. Murray he has done a wonderful job of balancing use and resource protection. Reasonable and responsible access along with scientifically-supported closures for resource protection is what the majority of ORV users want.
Zero birds or turtles were harmed under the 2007 plan as has been the case for several years and the lawsuit, given that there is an active interim ORV plan in place, is frivolous & I predict these 3 groups will have their arses handed to them
I look forward to bringing my family with our ORV's and riding on the beach. We will observe all rules. Though some of our ORV's date 1985 they don't leak oil, they are maintained and licensed. To you Doom & Gloom folks, go swim out to some of those rocks you won't see any ORV's out there.
Well, I've been to Cape Hatteras and I didn't see what was up there in the picture, all those vehicles. But unlike those guys in the vehicles. I prefer to walk out to the beach, I don't particularly enjoy taking my 4x4 out on the beach as sand can be not so nice to my truck. But then that's just me. As for wildlife, turtles and such, which by the way and not that anyone cares, but turtles happen to be my favorite. Back to the point. How much does one get to observe and enjoy while in an OVR. There great for getting from point A to point B, but how much wildlife and beach can you enjoy if you are sitting in one? But hey, i'm just part of joe q. public that enjoys absorbing the outdoors, while outdoors, not from inside a vehicle. Exercise is fantastic.....
My family vacationed at Hatteras every summer of my childhood. It is a very special place for us, and I was shocked by an email one of my brothers sent that indicated access to Hatteras beaches would be limited. The idea that I would not have a chance to share with my children the experiences I enjoyed was very disturbing to me. Generations of American children would be denied the endless pleasure of Hatteras beaches.
But then I learned the ban was for off-road vehicles, and I laughed. Not one of the things I so fondly remember doing there required a car on the beach. You can swim, lounge, surf, fish, build sand castles and look for treasure; not one of these activities requires a vehicle on the beach.
One of the commenter’s here noted that the word "recreational" is used in the name of the place (Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreation Area) and that somehow implies that vehicles should be allowed everywhere because they are somehow recreational in nature. This is absurd. There is nothing inherently recreational about driving an SUV to the beach. What you do after you’ve arrived at the beach is when the recreation begins for the driving contingent. For those that walked in, the recreation had already begun.
As a child I remember ORVs speeding along the beach where I was playing and thinking it was dangerous for cars to be there. At night we’d walk the beach and wonder if the drivers could see us. The beach is best for pedestrians only; it is undesirable as a street.
VCHawk Fumes?on the wind driven beach?Oil spills?We are Not the Exxon Valdez here..We do NOT run rampant,we ARE supervised by nps rangers and self police-ing.There are no"woodland trails"to access surf fishing sites,this is a beach,dear.This NOT an abuse of nature...nature cleanses this area with every (frequent) overwashing storm.Wildlife is still abundant there and the housing explosion does not affect the confines of the national park where they cannot be built.Come visit,we will give you a ride if you'd like and show you the splendor where land meets water then you can have a more realistic view than the one you're getting fro reading comic books.Have a happy day.
I've been coming down to the Outer Banks every year save one since 1965. Hatteras Island for the last 15 years. We always got a house very close to the southern edge of Avon. To date, I've never seen anyone doing donuts, or driving recklessly (On the beach.... highway 12 might be another matter). Perhaps one yahoo that got his vehicle a little too close to the ocean and almost lost it in the drink, but otherwise, the OVRrs are a very sedate group.
Oil on the beach use to be a problem in the 60s, but that was from ships at sea. It's very clean there now.
The folks that get themselves worked up over what they think is right for the environment sound like they've never been to Hatteras. You guys need to learn about the area a little bit before going off into histrionics.
Mr BO
I have lived on Hatteras Island my entire life, and I have grown up learning the importance of preserving and protecting our fragile environment. While driving on the beach. Park Rangers and self-policing, as VCHawk said, account for the responsible behavior of drivers on the beach. I have never seen anyone doing donuts or driving recklessly on the sand. To do that would be suicide, at the very least to your vehicle. I am more worried for my safety when crossing highway 12 in the summer than I am the beach.
The argument has been made that pedestrian traffic will still be permitted. However, only a small percentage of the beach is accessible to pedestrians. Cape Point, in Buxton, is almost entirely inaccessible, unless you want to walk a mile or more in the sand, in addition to the distance to the beach itself. Ryan, I agree that exercise is good, but not everyone can make that walk to get to the most desirable recreation areas. The elderly and disabled enjoy fishing at the point and other areas that cannot be feasibly reached by foot. Are we to deny them this?
Banning beach driving would also have an economic impact on the area. Nearly all of the 5,000 residents of Hatteras Island depend on tourism on some level. ANY loss in income could be disastrous for already struggling families. My mother works for a vacation rental company, and several clients who have booked with her for years have not rebooked, stating that they will not vacation there if they cannot drive on the beach.
The national seashore was NOT set up as a wildlife refuge. There is a wildlife refuge just north of Rodanthe. No ORVs there. And the beach is still eroding there, by the way. From what I've seen, it's eroding at a greater rate than the beaches that allow ORV use.
Another reason that pedestrian-only access to the beach would not work: People driving ORVs use designated beach access areas. Driving over the dunes is simply madness. Do you believe that all pedestrians only use designated walk-overs? From having lived there my entire life, seeing vehicles parked alongside the highway at the S-curves just north of Rodanthe, I have seen the problems of pedestrian-only access to certain areas of the beach. People walk over the dunes with no regard for the fragile plant life that holds them together. That is why the dunes just north of Rodanthe wash out so often and cause problems for drivers trying to get on or off the island.
I agree that something should be done to either limit beach traffic or to make sure that ORV users know the rules. One way to do the latter is by requiring a special permit to drive on the beach. People living on the Outer Banks could get this permit as an endorsement on their license, similar to a motorcycle endorsement, etc. Take a separate exam at the DMV on the rules and regulations about beach driving, and issue a sticker or rear-view-mirror hanger with this license so that park rangers know those permitted and those not. Vacationers could go to the Dare County Park Service Office in Manteo and get a temporary permit by taking a similar exam. This would require a lot of coordination and cooperation between all levels of government, but it could work. Making sure people know the rules is one way to improve beach traffic. If limiting the number of vehicles concerns you, issue a limited number of permits per week or per day for tourists, limit the permits to one per family/vacation group, and have some way to make an exception for the elderly and the disabled. These permits would have some cost associated with them, and the money brought in could help offset the cost of implementing such a plan.
To sum up:
Beach driving is not quite the ecological disaster people are imaginging.
A ban on beach driving would cause some popular recreation areas to be inaccessible, often to the elderly and disabled who have vacationed here for generations.
This ban would have economic consequences.
There is already a wildlife refuge in place.
Pedestrian traffic on the dunes would cause more damage than there is already, and this traffic would be increased by banning ORV use.
Something needs to be done: Permits.
See you at the beach.
As a native Cape Codder I have been visiting the Outer Banx for 5 years now. I leave one beachside community in the summer and happily drive 18 hrs to get to yours. Beach access has become so limited here that I am more than happy to pack up my family of 6 and head to your beautiful beaches. We shut down large portions of our waterfront when a single Piping Plover nest is found. Our towns charge us to use our own beaches and the rich continue to use their power to close off sections of beach that have been for years open to everyone. The reason I head to the Outer Banx is that it reminds me of what the Cape used to be like when I was a kid, and before it was hijacked by limosine liberals and over zealous environmentalists. In my years of coming to your community I have only observed courteous and respectful ORVers. Once you start limiting access you will be done as a destination resort. We are all in favor of protecting the environment and it's wildlife, but by bending to the vocal minority and their all or nothing philosophies you will only lose your rights, your traditions and your incomes.