If you did not like what I wrote in my blog titled ?Don?t beat up on the county commissioners,? you really won?t like today?s editorial in The Virginian-Pilot.
That editorial is entitled ?Washington leaps into Hatteras fight.?
Never mind, that it?s not even news since Washington has been involved in the ?fight? since last year. Just read it.
I wrote that advocates of beach access should not waste time beating up on the county, bashing the federal judge who signed off on the consent decree that ended a lawsuit by environmental groups against the National Park Service, or trying to get legislation passed in Washington to overturn the consent decree.
I said that those who favor continued access to America?s first national seashore should instead focus their efforts on a draft Environmental Impact Statement and preferred alternative on access to the park. Park officials have said that the DEIS should be ready this fall and that there will be public meetings and a 60-day public comment period.
Some of you didn?t like that and suggested I was advocating that we all sit back and do nothing from now until the end of the year.
I advocated nothing of the sort.
I said we need to gear up now for the coming fight.
If you don?t believe we should, check out the comments by ?Observer? on the ?Don?t beat up the county? blog.
Observer pretty well outlines what the strategy of the environmental groups will be.
Now, back to The Virginian-Pilot editorial.
The editorial writer says that ?The extent of the closures is often overstated by critics.?
The writer further claims that a third of the 67 miles of seashore is open to ORVs ? even with resource closures and seasonal safety closures in front of the island?s villages.
That percentage is closer to a fourth of the beaches open to ORVs. And, more importantly, the areas closed include the most popular recreational areas of Bodie Island spit, Cape Point, South Beach in Frisco, Hatteras Inlet spit, and South Point on Ocracoke.
The editorial writer concludes that, at this late date, the efforts of the people might be better spent spreading the word that the beach ?remains open and hospitable to fishing and many other activities.?
And, finally, the writer advises people to ?quit spinning their wheels in anger? and instead spend their time ?furthering the national seashore?s many years of success.?
Of course, the park?s many years of success are built on the historical and traditional uses of this national seashore recreational area ? including off-road vehicle access to the popular areas.
I do think it is important to get the word out that there are beaches open to ORVs. You can still drive on some beaches.
However, I have to wonder if the Pilot?s editorial writer has ever been to Hatteras or Ocracoke and talked to the people here who are being affected by the resource closures. Has this writer researched the losses that Hatteras businesses have suffered since the consent decree was signed last April 30? Or has the writer talked to the regular visitors who are no longer coming because of the loss of access to their favorite seashore recreational areas?
One last point: Please do not confuse the opinions of The Virginian-Pilot editorial board with the reporting of its Nags Head-based reporter, Catherine Kozak. The Pilot?s news reports have been fair and informed.
To read the editorial:
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/06/washington-leaps-hatteras-fight
I can think of a couple of things we can do in addition to Irene?s suggestion. I think we have some time to portray ourselves as commited conservationist who care about & care for the beaches. Our presence deters predators and we pick up litter, help beached dolphins & whales, help protect turtles and nesting birds. We need to stop blaming the birds for this policy and lose the sloguns (I like plover tastes like chicken) and bumper stickers that seem to say that we dont give a rat?s patoey about wildlife on the Island. It just isnt true for most of us and we all drive on the beach.
We need to convince folks who are members of the environmental groups that their leadership is plain wrong about closing recreational beaches to ORV?s & people and turning them into wildlife sanctuaries is wrong and unneccessay. Let?s point out the many NWR?s that we have locally and indicate the high level of local support they enjoy.
We need to point of that closing beaches to ORV removes any way for handicapped folks to get to the beach. We need to point out the trapping and maiming and killing of predators demanded by the environmental group?s leadership. I think we can win in the court of public opinion but, as Allan Burrus said at the meeting, we need to fight smarter.
su⋅per⋅cil⋅i⋅ous /ˌsupərˈsɪliəs/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [soo-per-sil-ee-uhs] Show IPA
–adjective haughtily disdainful or contemptuous, as a person or a facial expression.
Not you, Irene, but the editor of VIRGINIA–PILOT. Sheesh. ?a third of the 67 miles of seashore is open? and I suppose we should be darn glad of that.
I, for one, have already written my public comment and I?m rehearsing in front of the bathroom mirror.
IT IS NOT ABOUT THE BIRDS, our comments or our thoughts. They simply want no people on the beach. We lose more by concentrating on only the ORV issue and not including the pedestrian into the equation. If it was about the bird doesn?t any logical thinking person know that the 200 or so birds on the island these people are protecting do not need 2/3 of the island to nest and live?
Who?s Resolution is who?s? The NC GOP Executive Committee passed this one;
RESOLUTION
SUPPORTING OPEN AND ACCESSIBLE BEACHES
ON THE CAPE HATTERAS NATIONAL SEASHORE RECREATIONAL AREA
WHEREAS, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area (CHNSRA) was created by Congress in 1937 as America’s first National Seashore with the promise that people would always have access for recreation; and
WHEREAS, a tourism based economy has been developed on Bodie Island, Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Island, where the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area is located, comprising part of the area known as the Outer Banks of North Carolina; and
WHEREAS, access to the beaches of this area has always been the defining element of the visitor’s complete seashore experience and is the foundation of the area’s economic base upon which thousands of families depend for their livelihood; and
WHEREAS, the National Park Service has managed the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area and in July of 2007, adopted an Interim Protected Species Management Plan (Interim Plan) to protect the natural resources of the CHNSRA while still providing for public access to the most popular and traditionally used beaches of the area; and
WHEREAS, in October 2007, environmental groups filed suit in U.S. Federal Court seeking to enjoin access to large areas of the CHNSRA resulting in a Consent Decree issued in April of 2008 by the U.S. Federal District Court modifying the Interim Plan and resulting in the closure to the public of large areas of the CHNSRA; and
WHEREAS, the unprecedented closures as a result of the Consent Decree has created significant economic harm to businesses in the area and disrupted a recreational heritage which has been responsibly enjoyed by families for generations; and
WHEREAS, in January 2009, Congressman Walter B. Jones (R-NC) introduced H.R. 718, to reinstate the Interim Management Plan on the CHNSRA, which he first introduced as H.R. 6233 on June 11, 2008; and
WHEREAS, H.R. 718 would set aside current mandates put in place in the wake of the Consent Decree, restore public access and improve economic conditions by reinstituting the Interim Management Plan until the National Park Service establishes a long-term management plan for use of the CHNSRA.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the _______(Organization name)_______ supports open public access to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area consistent with promises made in the enabling legislation, and recognizes the importance of recreational access to sustain the economic viability of this unique area and finds the Interim Management Plan, of the National Park Service, the most effective tool available to regulate the area, until a long-term plan can be adopted.
The words were put together by Dare County Officials. The Dare County Republicans took it to the GOP Convention and asked the Executive Committee to pass it, they did.
The North Carolina Democrats should also get behind this Resolution.
And the editorial conveniently omits that about 20% of the beach they say is ?OPEN? to pedestrians is ?LIMITED ACCESS?, meaning it is difficult to impossible to acces in a reasonable manner.
I?ll continue to spin my wheels pointing out the complete true story with no spin, hoping for traction at some point.
Check out my comment. If the comment gets read by new people, good.
I am so pleased to see the prompt and “spot on” responses to the Pilot editorial, the second such in several weeks in this periodical. It reflects the enviro-liberal attitude of that paper and of the current administration, which would like us simply to obey the dictat that “we won, so shut up.”
The editor closes, unwittingly, with “?the national seashore?s many years of success,” reflecting the halcyon circumstances that the environs now so roundly deplore.
Remember this, and by working collectively we can turn this around and bring our beaches back to their rightful enthusiasts
Ah,the Va.Pilot?owned and operated by the ?Supreme Ruler? of Iran.Whatever you do,DON?T print the un-shaded truth?BUT?the truth IS out there and WE know it!
Let?s look at this way.
Only 30% of Washington is closed. No big deal, there is plenty of stuff still open.
The only things closed are the Washington Monument, The Smithsonian, Museum of Natural History and the Air and Space Museum.
You can?t make a ?Silk Purse out of a Sows Ear?. What used to be the engine that drove the economy has been cut off, and not just to vehicles. Every form of public access has suffered. My government tells me that a ?Replacment Economy? will take over and everything will be allright. My nine years of talking to our visitors tells me that is not going to happen.
It?s up to the NPS now. Come Fall we will get to see their preferred alternative and I hope that all residents and visitors will make their voices heard.
Yep John, the ?Replacement Economy?, sometimes touted as the vast number of new visitors who will come seeking a quiet ORV free beach. You know, like the vast numbers of them now inundating Pea Island.
The ?Boil? continues to fester.
We thought it had been lanced back in 78.
Oh damn it?s back again.
OK the NPS didn?t do it?s job, even though they really did, it just got lost.
Now the NPS is under a court order to come up with a ?Final Plan? for ORV use in the Public Seashore.
We are in a pressure cooker. Our Government is on a short fuse. Lot?s off pressure to act quickly, and we all know that doesn?t fit with the way our government actually works.
I went into this process to defend my personal access. I can?t walk the miles that would give me an ?Inlet Experience? and needed my vehicle to access public lands.
I have to admit to being naive. What I thought was about my vehicle access was about everyone’s access.
I was very surprised when I emailed, twice, the Ocracoke member of the Hyde County Board of Commissioners (Eugene S. Ballance) and never received a response. Apparently, he could give a crap less what a long time visitor and spender of over $1000/ week for lodging and food feels about the beach closures. I know Ocracokers are supposed to be laid back, but I didn?t think they were comatose, especially the politicians. Just once more reason while I?ll never return.
Sam,
I sent you an e:mail.