The Battle Over a North Carolina Beach Continues
Comments
Whine, whine, whine, whine....
Submitted by Ted Williams (not verified) on Thu, 2012/09/13 - 12:53pm.
AYS: If you paid attention to what you read, you would have learned that I reported that the speeding cars and animals being run over is (at least for the most part) a thing of the past thanks to the regulations that four federal laws REQUIRE the Park Service to implement. I understand that the motorheads don’t like those regs. And yet those regs are far more liberal than those of other national seashores. Cape Canaveral, for instance, bans ORVs. Cape Cod all but bans them. So stop whining and learn to live with what the law requires.
With all due respect Mr.
Submitted by AYS (not verified) on Thu, 2012/09/13 - 2:41pm.
With all due respect Mr. Williams, those things were not happening with any kind of frequency BEFORE the new regulations were in place either. I've been coming to Hatteras since I was 15 years old. It's still a bogus claim. I feel when the place I've loved to come to for more than half of my life changes in such drastic ways that it's no longer as enjoyable as it once was, it's acceptable to whine about it a little. Your article also states that the new plan is still not nearly adequate, so am I completely in the wrong to assume that the pressure will be on to close even more beaches in the future, until it is deemed adequate? And lets not forget that many of the places closed to ORV's are also closed to foot traffic in most cases. So again, going on foot is farfetched. Another thing, I have NEVER had to fear for my life for being run over by and ORV, going a whopping 15 mph on the beach at Cape Hatteras. That is laughable. Carova on the other hand...we were all almost hit at one time or another when we visited the ORV beaches up there. If you want to see vehicles cutting up on the beach, you'll have better luck up there.
Please explain the numbers
Submitted by Ted Williams (not verified) on Thu, 2012/09/13 - 3:14pm.
Oh, birds and sea turtles were not being wiped out “with any kind of frequency”? And you know this, how? From reading posts on the Red Drum Idiot Channel? I quoted Park Service data. Black skimmers completely wiped out, and now back. Other birds way up. Sea turtles nesting in record numbers. The data collected by Park Service biologists are all “lies,” too? You’re running on fumes, AYS.
For someone who accuses
Submitted by AYS (not verified) on Fri, 2012/09/14 - 9:48am.
For someone who accuses others of not reading the article, you surely aren't even reading my comments before spouting off. Did I ever, EVEN ONCE, in any of my comments say anything about those numbers being lies? I did not. They were not being run over with any kind of frequency no. Wiped out by storms, predation, etc, yes. But to paint the image that even a majority of the bird's woes are because of those big bad vehicles tearing down the beach? Ridiculous. Where are your resources proving that animals were being run over regularly? I can only remember one instance in recent history of a turtle being run over on Ocracoke, when someone broke the rules and drove at night. Seems to me that the consent decree closures didn't help that turtle. For the record I do not visit the Red Drum site, hell I don't even fish. i just enjoy the beaches and solitude of Hatteras. And you didn't even bother answering my question about audubon eventually fighting for more closures. Who's running on fumes?? And are sea turtle nests not up all over the eastern seaboard? I'm sure that's all due to the closures on Hatteras right? Could the "record numbers" and "dramatic increases" not also be attributed to the fact that there weren't alot of storms this season? Not that you will answer any of the questions I've posed. You'd rather take a stab at insulting me, or other "motorheads" as you call them. Biased journalism at it's best.
The Battle Over a North Carolina Beach Continues | Audubon
Submitted by ptz plus (not verified) on Sat, 2012/11/03 - 10:06am.
Today, I went to the beachfront with my children.
I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said "You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear." She put the
shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and
it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back!
LoL I know this is completely off topic but I had to tell someone!
Why You Feel "Insulted"
Submitted by Ted Williams (not verified) on Fri, 2012/09/14 - 11:15am.
Either your memory is impaired, AYS, or you don’t read what you write. Here are you words: we are “lying about chicks and turtles being run over and crushed on the beaches.” And because you are grossly ignorant of ORV impacts on nature you don’t comprehend that wildlife “being wiped out by predation” is a direct result of parent birds being run off their nests by ORVs and hatchlings being trapped in ruts. Yes, Audubon is in favor of more closures. As I reported, the current regs are light years ahead of the interim plan but still grossly deficient. If you had read the article, you would know this. As I also reported, and as you also failed to note, sea turtle numbers at Hatteras have been soaring ever since the modest ORV regs that came with the 2008 consent decree. That steady increase has NOT been reflected elsewhere. Finally, if you wish not to feel “insulted,” consult the public record rather than recycling the BS generated by your equally ignorant neighbors.
Do you have any idea how
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2012/09/11 - 11:12am.
Do you have any idea how stupid Audubon and Ted Williams look when they make up stuff? The fact is the new policies versus old policies have not improved any species success. Bird fledge rates are the same and turtles false crawl is the same. The only thing that has changed the past several years is that economy of the villages located within the seashore are being negatively affected and severe loss of access to pedestrians and ORVs during the prime tourist season.
The new policies have discouraged thousands of fishermen from recreating at the seashore. These new policies need to be reevaluated and apply common sense to them. The complete closure of inlets is complete unacceptable, especially since there is no valid reason for their closure as birds traditionally don't nest there.
Consult the Public Record
Submitted by Ted Williams (not verified) on Tue, 2012/09/11 - 11:42am.
“Make up stuff.” Please! The information we reported is all in the public record for all who care to bestir themselves. But local motorheads are too lazy. Instead they recycle untruths they hear from their neighbors and on the Red Drum Idiot Channel. The dramatic nesting success I reported is taken from Park Service data. Go check for yourself. Do you imagine that the feds “make up stuff” like that? Have you heard that 2012 is an all-time record year for sea-turtle nesting on the seashore? Of course you haven’t. But you could have learned that with a 30-second Google search. The economic data, which I carefully cited in the piece, also on the public record, gives the lie to the local canard that you’ve just regurgitated. The local economy is booming. And one reason for this is that visitors are no longer afraid to walk on the beach. The reason “birds traditionally” didn’t nest in the areas you mention is because they were traditionally run off by ORVs. And the main reason fishermen are “discouraged from recreating at the seashore” is the constant stream of BS from locals that there’s no beach access. Even with that stream of BS overall visitation is up, as I also reported, again using Park Service data.
John, Reading this article I
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 2012/09/10 - 9:50am.
John,
Reading this article I didn't think Ted was implying that all the locals who drive on the beach are mean spirited "motor head" bullies. The Laissez-faire NPS management of ORVs of the last 40 years has attracted visitors and residents to Hatteras Island that fit Ted's description.
The Park should do more for the few commercial fishermen that work the seashore beaches. A good start would be clearing the beach of vehicles etc when and where the comms want to fish. It is difficult to haul a traditional seine net ashore if there are parked vehicles, sport fishing, surfing etc in the vicinity. The enabling legislation guaranteed that the legal resident of the villages be able to fish (commercial net fishing) but does not guarantee ORV access.
I find it disingenuous to even bring up commercial fishing in this context.
The parents that are offended by Park's trapping program would have to look pretty hard to see trapping operations. How would they would explain to their young children that pulling a fish out of the water to suffocate on land is ok but trapping predatory animals to save a species from being extirpated from historical nesting and forging habitat or extinction is wrong? Park rangers shot one fox out in daylight at Cape Point. The fox was exhibiting suspicious (rabid) behavior. Your description of the trapping program is not accurate. The only thing in your face about the trapping program is the constant reminder by the ORV access groups's bumper stickers and propaganda. I see right through that.
I doubt the people that are getting up early walking the beach picking up trash, marking turtle crawls etc are the individuals responsible for bad behavior or sport a F----you Audubon bumper sticker on their vehicle.
I can sympathize with people that are denied access (foot or vehicle) to go recreate where they are accustomed to because of new park regulation. I do not understand a bumper sticker that says "F--- You" or spiteful vindictive action against others including vandalizing property.
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I read your piece and several
I read your piece and several others you have written, and my point is that your depiction of the seashore is grossly inaccurate. There are little to no speeding cars, animals being plowed over, people joyriding, etc...don't pretend you didn't imply those things. You have, more than once, and it's FALSE! If you read my comment over, I didn't try to dispute your numbers, Audubon's numbers, or the NPS's numbers. It's the other lies and misrepresentations that make me angry. And yes, we are being forced to pile on top of others, because the last week of August, which is usually a non crowded week on the beaches down there, was crowded, and all three areas that I accessed them from...Frisco, Cape Point, and Ramp 55 in Hatteras. There were no places available where you could park and not have someone right next to you, and this is a change. i'm sure you walk miles in the hot sand to South Beach or the point with your children, dogs, cooler and chairs when you visit the seashore! Take a 3 year old along with you next time and see how well that goes over. Telling people to "walk" to get the the point, and other remote areas if they want to enjoy them is far fetched, and if you have been there like you say you have, you would know that. Until the NPS builds new infrastructure to make those walks more feasible, that won't change.