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Seasonal Guidelines Instituted To Protect Nesting Shorebirds...At Gulf Islands National Seashore

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Though it might seem the only stories about nesting shorebirds in the national parks revolve around Cape Hatteras National Seashore, there are nesting shorebirds at Gulf Islands National Seashore, too, and officials are implementing seasonal guidelines to protect them.

Gulf Islands Superindent Dan Brown says the 2011 shorebird nesting season is under way
in the Florida District of of the seashore. Among the species of nesting birds are least terns, snowy and Wilson's plovers, and black skimmers.

Areas where birds are nesting will be closed to the public and marked accordingly. These closed areas represent a very small percentage of the seashore and officials request that you divert activities to other areas of the park, Superintendent Brown says.

"If you find yourself besieged by birds, it means that you are near an unmarked nesting area or young chicks," a park release said. "Please leave the area by back-tracking your steps - these eggs are very small and may be hard to see."

Since birds and the chicks are often struck by vehicles as they wander onto or fly across roadways at the seashore, posted speed limits are being temporarily reduced to 20 mph in those areas where birds are nesting in close proximity to the roadway.

"By observing posted speed limits and watching carefully for birds flying across or feeding along the roadway, you can help to protect the nesting colonies," the seashore statement said. "By August, nesting will have been completed, and normal use of the road will resume."

Seashore officials also urged bicyclists, walkers, and joggers to temporarily avoid areas along the roadway posted as closed for nesting shorebirds. Any intrusion into the nesting area causes the birds to take flight, leaving their nests vulnerable, the seashore said, adding that the parent birds will often dive at the intruder in an effort to drive them away from the colony.

Alarmed birds may then fly low across the road and into the paths of oncoming vehicles

"We believe we can protect the nesting shorebirds and allow them to reproduce and flourish while minimizing the impacts to the visiting public," said Superintendent Brown.

For additional information on park programs and resources, you can contact the Naval
Live Oaks Visitor Center at 850-934-2600 or visit the seashore's website at www.nps.gov/guis

Comments

Please, Fact Checker, don't confuse us with FACTS.


Fact Checker Please refer to this site for my reference pic. And please do not use a name you do not understand.

http://wheatseyeonhatterasislandnc.blogspot.com/

First you say...
"Cape Point is not closed."
Then youy Quote...
"Cape Point temporarily closes to ORV access..."

Which is it?


I suggest there not be anything posted anymore that can be used to argue the CAHA folks side of things....thus, please close down the site...thank you.


Ryan has been trained well... This is the same attitude the enviros have to Access and is how we got here.


Ryan I understand your frustration with your CAHA point. I apologize. It is difficult for me to read misleading comments and not rebut. I don’t begin to know how to explain to someone who doesn’t get the difference between closed as in no one is allowed there and ORV access is temporally halted to get to that destination.  I guess for some people walking is simply not part of the equation.


Fact checker can you not read the signs posted this last Friday on Cape Point, south point Okracoke on Sat and today between ramp 45 and ramp 49... Please reread the sign and let me know where it states you (unless you are a scientist counting the birds) can walk? Are you not a pedestrian?

It must be nice to ignore the facts in front of your face and continue like nothing is happening or wrong. I am sure that this does not affect you as you sit in your armchair pointing fingers.

This is helpful as it explains why we are in the situation we are in. The facts that someone cannot read a sign tells me that maybe the intention was only to limit ORV's and that they are using the wrong signs?


Is walking an attitude?  An "enviro" attitude?


I just took a look at the website Mr. Stubbs cited and found this headline over the whole thing: 

Wheats eye on Hatteras Island, N.C.

An ongoing prospective of life on Hatteras
Island as well as the destruction of Americas first National Seashore by
the court, the Park Service and environmental groups.

Doesn't sound like a very well-balanced approach to trying to work out reasonable solutions in cases of disagreement.

But that aside, I'd hate to see Traveler (or any other access point) shut down a discussion just because they disagree with one side or another, or because some people interested in the subject aren't always diplomatic.  Doing something like that would be playing into the same Me First And Only attitude that is paralyzing our government and many of us right now.  America was built upon the idea that reasonable people may reason together -- and disagree together -- until we finally are able to reach reasonable solutions.

I can't tell you how many times in my life I've finally had sense enough to stop shouting and actually listen to something someone else was trying to say.  And when I've done that, I've sometimes found a flashing light switching on and have had to realize that if I'd listened earlier, I might have learned something different fromt the dogma I'd thought I believed.

But at the same time, I do think Mr. Stubbs and the author of this website are missing a very critical point.  The website shouts that it is trying to "preserve Cape Hatteras for future generations."  Yet at the same time, they are also pushing to allow practices that, in the judgement of those responsible for the Cape's management, may be potentially harmful to that very very objective.  Those who seek short-term gain from our resources usually are failing to see the big picture.  It's the same mentality that led to damming of Hetch-Hetchy and attempts to plunk a dam down in the inner gorge of the Grand Canyon only a few years ago. 

When dealing with something as delicate and still mysterious as an ecosystem, it's far better to err on the side of long-term preservation.  And that is exactly what NPS people are trying to do.  We have to think years -- or even centuries -- into the future. 

It's vitally important that park managers have full support from the public as they work to resist calls for development, for wide-open and unregulated use, and all the other myriad pressures that fall upon them.

It's important for all of us to maintain PERSPECTIVE of the Prospective uses of our park lands.  The real danger of destruction of America's parklands, including CAHA comes from those demanding unrestricted access, development, and other potentially destructive actions. 

I'd be about willing to bet that if someone does some digging they'd find dollar signs hiding somewhere in the dark back corners of this website.  If we follow the dollars, will we find someone here who sees a financial reward in all this?


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