The National Park Service last week announced that it has honored Outer Banks Group Superintendent Mike Murray with the Director?s Award for Superintendent of the Year for Natural Resource Protection.
I spent the end of last week working on a blog, posted last Friday, on the delays in the seashore?s off-road vehicle rulemaking, which will affect access to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore beaches, for both ORVs and pedestrians, for years to come.
So I didn?t get around to publishing the media release on the NPS Natural Resources Award.
But Salvo Jimmy posted a link on my blog comments, and I am publishing the information again here just to be sure that all are aware of the honor bestowed on the seashore superintendent.
According to the NPS media release, the Natural Resource Awards ?recognize employees who go above and beyond performance of their duties.?
?This year’s winners were nominated by employees from across the National Park Service,? according to the release, ?by the people who watched their day-to-day efforts to preserve landscapes for our enjoyment today and in the future. The people who made these nominations singled out remarkable achievers for this special recognition.?
In naming Murray the Superintendent of the Year for Natural Resource Protection, the Park Service said:
?Murray arrived at the Outer Banks Group (which includes Cape Hatteras National Seashore) in 2005 and tackled an off-road vehicle management plan and environmental impact statement. His job was to restore balance to off-road vehicle use and the health of populations of several endangered and threatened species, including shorebirds and sea turtles. Murray had to find a way for visitors to continue to enjoy beach access with motor vehicles and reverse the decline of the endangered and threatened species.
?Murray worked to build trust with local and regional stakeholders and guide his staff to produce a plan that relied on best available science. After five years that included federal court direction and major public engagement, the park produced a final Off-Road Vehicle Management Plan, its associated environmental impact statement and a Draft Off-Road Vehicle Management Regulation. Murray’s actions ensured that the National Park Service would meet its legal requirement to provide off-road vehicle use and improve habitat for shorebirds and sea turtles in the park.?
I congratulate Murray on receiving this award.
I would just note to his bosses and the NPS public relations machine in Washington that the seashore has not yet met its ?legal requirement to provide off-road vehicle use and improve habitat for shorebirds and sea turtles in the park.?
Also, the seashore apparently has produced a final piece in the ORV rulemaking, a draft off-road vehicle management regulation, but the public has not seen it yet.
It is still being reviewed by the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service in Washington and will eventually be reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.
According to the terms of a 2008 consent decree that settled a lawsuit against the Park Service by environmental groups over its lack of an ORV rule, the seashore was to have a final rule tomorrow, April 1.
Next week ? on Thursday, April 7 — the Park Service and its attorneys will be explaining to Federal Judge Terrence Boyle in Raleigh why there is still no final rule.
