While Hatteras Island residents and visitors have been preoccupied this year with public hearings on ORV rulemaking and the Bonner Bridge replacement, folks on the northern beaches of Dare County have been having a robust debate about beach nourishment. Specifically, they have been debating the pros and cons of a proposed 1 percent increase in […]
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Maryland man drowns at Ocracoke beach
By IRENE NOLAN By IRENE NOLAN The body of a 19-year-old man from Gloucester, Va., was recovered about 3 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 19, on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore beach near Ramp 4 on Bodie Island, a day after he disappeared while swimming off the same beach on Wednesday morning. According to the National […]
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Sea turtles are nesting at Cape Hatteras â and all along the southeast coast — in record numbers
Cape Hatteras National Seashore has already broken a record this year for sea turtle nests ? 131 as of Thursday, Aug. 5. The previous record was 112 nests in 2008. In 2009, nests were slightly down, but still above average at 104. You need not jump to the conclusion that nesting is up because of […]
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An update on replacing the Bonner Bridge
?This is the most studied project in the history of U.S. transportation,? Jim Trogdon, chief operating officer for the North Carolina Department of Transportation, said last week. He added that there are employees in the department who have been working on the bridge replacement since they were hired and they are now ready to retire. […]
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There will be no lifeguarded beach on Hatteras this summer
By IRENE NOLAN By IRENE NOLAN It is very unlikely at this point that Hatteras Island will have a lifeguarded beach this summer, according to Paul Stevens, chief enforcement ranger for the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. In an interview yesterday, Stevens said he had remained hopeful that the Park Service could make emergency hires to […]
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Cape Point re-opens to off-road vehicles
By IRENE NOLAN By IRENE NOLAN The National Park Service re-opened Cape Point to vehicles today, a full week earlier than last year. The east side of Cape Point is open to vehicles from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. daily. Night driving is prohibited from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. A pre-nesting closure west of […]
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Soccer Moms, Hockey Moms, and now Bridge Moms
During the 1996 presidential campaign, we got the Soccer Moms. During the 2008 presidential campaign, we got the Hockey Moms. Now, as the 20-year campaign to get the aging Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet replaced drags on and on, we have the Bridge Moms. Just as the Hockey Moms and Soccer Moms did, the Bridge […]
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Enough is enough on bridge replacement â Letâs roll!
?Write a record of decision, and let?s roll.? That is what Warren Judge, chairman of the Dare County Board of Commissioners, had to say over the weekend about the 20-year effort to replace the aging Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet. The comment is Judge?s message to the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the Federal […]
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Pedestrian access to Cape Point reopened; ORV access may come in two weeks
By IRENE NOLAN By IRENE NOLAN The east side of Cape Point reopened to pedestrians yesterday, July 7, and the area could be open to off-road vehicles in two weeks. Access for pedestrians is via a corridor that begins about 100 meters south of Ramp 44. Although the piping plover chicks in the area east […]
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Consent decree causes first sea turtle death by an ORV on the seashore
That sounds like a rather ludicrous statement, doesn?t it? Well, Southern Environmental Law Center and friends, as the proverb says, turn about is fair play. This statement is no more ludicrous than SELC?s media releases. SELC has sent out media releases since 2008, noting that bird and sea turtle nesting on the Cape Hatteras National […]
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