Summer is here. You can tell by the return of visitors, traffic on Highway 12, the southwest wind with heat and humidity and the chance of thundershowers each day.
It?s good to see the folks here again.
Of course, this is also high season for visiting turtles and shorebirds that are busy nesting on our beaches. And that brings with it, more closures of beaches, not just to ORVs but also to pedestrians.
Right now, there is a lot of real estate at the seashore closed to ORVs. Only about 8 miles are open to vehicles on Hatteras and Ocracoke and about two miles on Bodie Island. All of Buxton is shut down to ORVs.
However, the good news is that, by all reports, the ramps that are open are not terribly crowded yet and haven?t come close to reaching their carrying capacity.
There are also areas that are closed to pedestrians because of resource protection.
Now, I have a lot of family here with more headed down over the weekend and I?ve had inquiries from them and from friends about where you can drive and where you can?t and which ramps are open and which aren?t.
In my view, it?s not as easy to get that information from the National Park Service as it once was.
For several years now, park officials have been at work on streamlining the two weekly reports ? one on beach access and one on resource management. At the same time, the park has worked on upgrading its Google Earth map of areas that are open and closed to ORVs and pedestrians and resource closures.
Last year, the natural resources report was pared down to the bare bones. Before 2012, the report listed numbers of nests, locations, date found, date hatched, total eggs hatched, chicks lost and chicks fledged. And there was a narrative with it, especially about the nesting piping plovers.
This year, the natural resources management summary lists only the number of nests to date for protected species of birds and turtles. For the piping plovers, the only federally protected shorebird on the seashore, it lists only number of nests, number of active nests, number of active broods, and number of chicks fledged. And there is no discussion. If you want more information, you can call the resources program manager.
I miss the other information for keeping track of nesting success, but I understand it was time consuming to produce.
It?s the beach access report that I really don?t like.
In past years, it went on for pages and pages, describing sections of the beach with resource, ORV, and pedestrian closures. It was too much and too labor intensive. I can understand why it had to change.
But this year, the beach access report is just a table of miles of seashore that are open and closed for resources protection, for ORV use, and for pedestrian access.
The Park Service now wants us all to use the Google Earth map of the seashore to see what is open and closed.
Personally, I hate using the Google Earth map. I?m not an Internet idiot but neither am I as facile as my grandchildren when it comes to using programs such as Google Earth.
I think that in addition to the mileage table, the Park Service should include a simple list of ramps ? whether they are open or closed to ORVs and if they are open, for how many miles in each direction.
There are only about 18 of them on the seashore. And this time of year, most are closed.
I don?t think it?s all that labor intensive and I think it would be a place for ORV users to quickly check where they can and cannot go during the nesting season.
The Park Service does not think it is advisable to do this ? because ?conditions on the ground change constantly? and what?s open this morning might not be open this afternoon.
That?s a given. The best information has been and always will be signage on the site.
However, why can?t we have that list of ramps?
Because, park officials say, the public is very happy with the Google Earth map, which gets thousands of hits every day.
Cyndy Holda, the park?s public affairs specialist who deals with inquiries from the public, says she has had few, if any, complaints about the new formats for the weekly reports.
Am I the only one who would like to see a list of the ramps that are open and closed?
I am interested in what you, our readers, think about this. Send us your comments. And please keep your comments on the subject of what you think would be most helpful for visitors and locals during the nesting season. What kind of beach access information do you want and how do you want to get it?
I will not post a bunch of comments on the pros and cons of the ORV plan, which ?at least for now ? is what it is. Nor do we need one more round of Park Service bashing.
We will be looking for your constructive comments in the next week or so.
Unless there is breaking news, this will be my last blog until after the July 4 holiday weekend. I ? and others who work with me ? have family plans for the upcoming week.
And the week is likely to be a very slow news week with lots of local, state, and federal workers getting the holiday off and/or taking vacation.
You can be assured that if there is news of interest to our readers, we will come in from the beach and make sure it?s posted.
So happy Independence Day.
Remember that there will be fireworks on Hatteras at the Avon Pier on July 4 at 9:15 p.m. Many of the villages are also sponsoring events and celebrations.
Enjoy.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
You can read archived weekly beach access reports back to 2008 in The Island Free Press Archives. Go to the bottom of the Front Page and click on ?Archives.?
Click here for Fourth of July events on Hatteras and Ocracoke.
