A New Rule Balances Wildlife and Off-Road-Vehicle Use on a North Carolina Beach
Comments
"Proof is nothing but a
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 2012/06/14 - 10:01pm.
"Proof is nothing but a collection of opinions that match your own. "
I was saddened to see another biased account about the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area. There is so much wrong with this I don't even know where to begin.
By the way, I am not a ORV person but I do live here and I can't believe how skewed the information presented in this article is. I use to support another environmental group with donations but never, ever again.
The threatened, not near endangered Piping Plovers
Submitted by Barbara (not verified) on Thu, 2012/06/14 - 7:07pm.
Any visits from Audubon supporters would be appreciated. Don't expect to see any birds, in fact don't expect to have access to much beach, unless you are a strong walker and don't mind briers and sand burrs. However, our businesses, restaurants,rental homes, motels and campgrounds welcome you and your financial support.
The NPS Resource Reprt for this week shows that the Piping Plovers may not be as successful as they were in previous years. We cuurently have 5 nests, 1 brood, and 2 fledged chicks. This week in 2011 there were 3 nests, 5 broods and 2 fledged. In 2010 the numbers were 3, 5, and 8. Notice that in previous years there were 8nests and broods whereas this year there are only 6. For this, over 14 miles of beach are closed. In Buxton, there is only 0.4 miles of beach open to those of us who are less physically able. Kinda crowded at best.
Research at this seashore shows that the plovers were more successful when they could nest at more protected areas away from the dynamic, agressive ocean. The oceanand sound beaches are the only place visitors wish to go .Win/win and the goals of everyone are met.
Here's the Truth
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 2012/06/15 - 5:59pm.
One week's counts mean nothing when evaluating productivity. Fledglings do. Cherry picking counts from a particular week is a low form of mendacity and an attempt to confuse readers. You can read this gobbledy gook, or get the facts from http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=358&projectID=13331&docu....
Open the Piping Plover report (the first link), which contains data going back to 1992. In 2011, there were 15 Piping Plover pairs and 10 fledged chicks. In 2010, there were 12 and 15, respectively. For the past 20 years, the mean number of fledged chicks from Hatteras has been 6. That average has been met or exceeded from 2008 on (7 and 6 Piping Plovers fledged in 2008 and 2009, respectively). From 1992-2007, it was met or exceeded less than half the time (7 times in 16 years). From 2001-2004, a total of 2 Piping Plover chicks were fledged. In addition to direct mortality, peer-reviewed research shows that beach-driving causes chick mortality by denying them access to feeding areas and the shoreline. These deplorable conditions for Piping Plovers, other birds, and sea turtles prompted the legal action. The consent decree worked to increase productivity for Piping Plovers and other wildlife. Hopefully the new rules will continue this success.
There are great opportunities for recreation and wildlife viewing at Hatteras, but you'd never know it from posters like this who complain about the economy (by the way, last year Dare County had record receipts and bed occupancy rates last year) and then tell potential visitors to stay away.
This is probably the most
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 2012/06/15 - 10:25am.
This is probably the most absurd statement I've ever read. Nothing presented by Barbara is factual.
If the Final Plan is so good
Submitted by obxguys (not verified) on Thu, 2012/06/14 - 6:36pm.
If the Final Plan is so good and fair, why are so many good, nature loving folks so upset that they are willing to spend hundreds of personal hours and thousands of personal dollars fighting it. To coin a phrase, "It doesn't make sense."
Is it possible that it's the Plan that doesn't make sense. We have listened to the volumes of Best Available Science and had all of the Promises and Historic Legislation thoroughly explained to us by Audubon, Defenders of Wildlife and SELC. We appreciate that because, you're right, we Don't understand it. No matter how many times they repeat it, it still does not make sense.
What did make sense was when, during the House Committee Hearing, Dare County Commissioner, Warren Judge, so appropriately described the environmentalists idea of compromise as a choice of "Would you rather get shot in the head or the foot" and the good Congressman from Utah said, referring to The Plan, that it, or what it was doing to the people of Hatteras, Stinks. At least, I think that is the way he put it.
You want to know what we understand? It's the simple stuff.
Got to tell you something else. My wife and I have pulled three BIG Turtles out of the street this week and moved them to safety (nesting season you know). They smile at you, you know. We feed the Yellow Finches and others, they are beautiful. We had a baby Chick-a-dee born in a little house three feet from our back door and whatched it take it's first flight. It would stick it's head out the house and watch us come and go. I say all this because some of the environmentalists are making it hard for me to know how to feel. I have to keep reminding myself, it's not the fault of the birds or animals, it's just certain people.
Thanks for your time
Ron & Cecile (obxguys)
You know, it IS the birds'
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2012/06/27 - 10:14pm.
You know, it IS the birds' fault. Finches and chickadees nest in people's yards. Least Terns, Black Skimmers, American Ooystercatchers, and Piping Plovers nest on the beach. They need space on the beach to succeed. So when Audubon succeeds in getting NPS to give them what they need, go ahead and blame them for being adapted to nest on beaches and not in your rafter or in a birdhouse. If you like some birds, and if you like to help take terrapins out of the road, that's great. But the beach-nesting birds need what they need, and if you don't want want to admit it, or if you don't want to give them what they need to raise their young, that's sad. It's sadder still if nature-loving people have been duped by the ORV lobby's lies. But, you know what they say in politics: tell a lie three times and people believe it's the truth. The ORV people have told their lies many, many times over.
Out right lies and half truths.
Submitted by Wing (not verified) on Thu, 2012/06/14 - 4:51pm.
There was a time when I was in full suport of the Audubon. Then I became aware that they would lie and bend the truth to get their way. This article is a perfect example. There is no proof that visitors to the park have run over any indangered or threatened animals. There are 2 photos that have been circulated showing a turtle and bird in tire tracks. No proof that they were not run over by a park service truck, which will always be allowed to drive on the beach. No proof that these photos were even taken somewhere within park boundries. 28 miles of beach open to vehicles? Only for a few months in the middle of the winter when few people visit the park. Only half of that is open during peak visitation periods. Audubon will only be happy when this National Seashore is a wilderness area and inaccessible to most Americans.
The adult sea turtle was run
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2012/06/27 - 10:06pm.
The adult sea turtle was run over by one of three vehicles caught on security cameras illegally entering the beach after 10 p.m. Get over the black helicopter theories and just accept that an irresponsible ORV driver killed an adult loggerhead.
One tiny little tidbit of
Submitted by Tarheel (not verified) on Thu, 2012/06/14 - 12:14pm.
One tiny little tidbit of information that the ORVers don't want you to know is that, by law, NPS must protect birds, sea turtles, and all natural resources on Cape Hatteras National Seashore AND when there are conflicts "natural resource protection must be predominant." The new regulation apparently complies with the law; the Interim Plan clearly did not.
Ms. Youngman's statement does not contradict the FONSI at all and you would know that if you would read the FONSI, not just the title. The US Gov't scientists (Dept of Interior) made specific recommendations to NPS, specifically for Cape Hatteras, and the NPS ignored them.
The 'make'm go somewhere else' strategy for wildlife management doesn't work-- never has, never will. There are volumes of evidence and peer-reviewed science that clearly show that vehicles on beaches harm birds and sea turtles. The National Park Service has documented many cases of vehicles crushing nests and chicks, and even sea turtles and their nests, at Cape Hatteras. There's probably no better proof in the cause of ORV impacts than the immediate rebounding of birds and sea turtles once they were adequately protected. This followed a long period of dramatic decline in the protection of these natural resources when the NPS failed to protect them.
Cape Hatteras is a better place because of this new regulation. I, for one, will visit Cape Hatteras more often than I did before. And I know many more who feel the same way.
Thank you, Audubon, for shedding light on this important issue.
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So many lies......
From the beginning sentence of this article to the end there are too many lies to even begin to attempt to correct. Suffice it to say that if you are a reader at home, especially one who has never been to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and you believe that all of this hogwash is true, then God help you in you naivety. Send the liars some more money please. Assuage your conscience by donating to the "good cause" while putting thousands of HUMANS who have lived and worked on Hatteras Island for centuries on the endangered species list.
And please, let's quit making this about ORV users and tell the truth about this one thing at least: people who like to drive out to the fishing spots are not the only ones affected by this..not by a long shot...pedestrians are also forbidden from huge sections of seashore. Miles and miles of seashore in fact. I have been out at sea and looked back on these gargantuan closed areas of shore and thought how truly sad it looks to see all this wonderful beach and absolutely no one, not a fisherman on foot, not a shell collector on foot, not a windsurfer, not an ORV driver..no one. And as these areas are increasingly closed to all human interface, more and more trash is piling up on these beaches. What a travesty.
So if you think that you are going to come to Hatteras Island and have a lovely long walk on the seashore undisturbed by those big bad vehicles..think again. In the very few areas left open to you, you will either have to walk through scrub brush (where there are plenty of poisonous snakes) or over the dunes. That's a great choice isn't it? And in the tiny areas where vehicles are allowed, there will be a lot of them since they are all being corralled into a few tiny spaces.
But come on down! Better go before it becomes a ghost town and there isn't anyone left to have a restaurant open, or a grocery store or a gas station or anywhere to buy an extra pair of binoculars.