As we head into August, beach access issues are on our minds even more than usual.
The bird nesting season is winding down and favorite beaches that have been closed for three months or more are re-opening to off-road vehicles and pedestrians. Cape Point re-opened for vehicles on Wednesday, July 29.
The turtles are still nesting ? 86 in all on the seashore as of this week. Many of these closures are being expanded as the nest hatch window approaches, but many of the expanded nests allow ORV and pedestrian access behind the expansions.
There are two dates coming up to mark on your calendar.
The Outer Banks Preservation Association, which supports free and open beach access, will have it annual meeting on Saturday, Aug. 8, at 5 p.m. at the Cape Hatteras Anglers Club in Buxton.
And on Sunday, Sept. 6, the Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance, a consortium of beach access groups, will sponsor a barbecue and dance at the Fessenden Center in Buxton to raise money for legal fees to defend open access. The barbecue is from noon until 10 p.m. and the dance will be at a soon-to-be-announced time in the evening.
And, last but not least, county officials spent several days this week in Washington, D.C., trying to get more support ? especially among Democrats ? for legislation that would nullify the consent decree that now rules ORV use and the seashore and return management to the National Park Service under the Interim Protected Species Plan. The interim plan was thrown out after environmental groups sued, claiming it did not do enough to protect nesting birds and turtles. That lawsuit was settled in April, 2008, by the consent decree in which the environmentalists, the Park Service, and the intervenors ? Dare and Hyde counties and CHAPA ? agreed to a new management plan.
Let?s look at some of these issues and events.
LEGISLATION TO SET ASIDE THE CONSENT DECREE
Beach access proponents started last year to work with Congress to get the consent decree thrown out.
Bill were introduced last year in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate to return management of the seashore to the park?s interim plan until there is a long-term ORV plan in 2011.
The terms of the consent decree are much more restrictive than the interim plan with increased buffers for nesting birds and a night ban on driving on the beaches. And the increased beach closures, especially in popular recreational areas, are taking a toll on the Outer Banks economy.
U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., introduced a bill last summer in the House and Republican Sens. Walter Burr and Elizabeth Dole introduced a companion bill in the Senate.
The Senate bill had a subcommittee hearing in July, and the House bill had a subcommittee hearing in September ? on the same day the Senate subcommittee voted down reporting out the bill.
At the time, Daniel Wenk, then a NPS deputy director, said the Park Service preferred the consent decree over its interim plan, which had been through several years of public hearings and comment periods and approved by the powers that be at the Department of Interior in Washington,
Jones re-introduced his bill in January in the new Congress. So far, no companion bill has been introduced in the Senate.
Sen. Burr said through a spokesman last winter that Burr was ready to try again, but, thus far, Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, who won Dole?s seat last November, has not signed on as a co-sponsor.
Chances are not good that last year?s legislation — that was not supported by the Park Service last year, was not supported by Democrats who controlled Congress, and could not get out of committee — will succeed this year.
This Congress is even more tightly controlled by Democrats, and they haven?t exactly piled on this new legislation.
Pragmatically, getting a new bill introduced in the Senate will mean that not only Republican Burr but also the Democrat Hagan will need to co-sponsor the legislation.
And Jones, so far, has six co-sponsors for HB 718. They are all Republicans. Four are from North Carolina ? Howard Coble, Patrick McHenry, Virginia Foxx, and Sue Myrick. Also co-sponsoring are Republicans Ron Paul of Texas and Robert Wittman of Virginia.
Warren Judge, chairman of the Dare County Board of Commissioners, and Bobby Outten, Dare?s county manager and attorney, spent several days in Washington this week, trying to garner support.
They met with Jones and Burr staff members, but also set out to garner Democratic support for legislation overturning the consent decree.
Judge says they met personally with Sen. Hagan.
?She was very positive,? Judge said.
He said Hagan said she would pursue the situation at the seashore with Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and would work with Burr?s office on the issue of legislation.
They also met with North Carolina Democratic representatives or their staff members, including Reps. G.K. Butterfield, Heath Shuler, Bob Etheridge, David Price, Mike McIntyre, Brad Miller, Larry Kissell, and Mel Watt.
Judge seems hopeful that some of those Democrats will sign on as co-sponsors of HB 718.
Does he think that HB 718 has a chance of passing Congress this year?
?What I think is that it?s what we need to salvage next summer,? he said.
OUTER BANKS PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION
The Outer Banks Preservation Association has set out this summer to revitalize, update, and improve its Web site.
According to a recent media release, ?OBPA is committed to doing a better job of keeping you abreast of news on what is happening with access issues at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area.?
Volunteer teams have been put in place to:
? Keep the web site updated with new and more active visitor participation
? Give timely and helpful answers to e-mails for its members and visitors
? Handle contributions, membership dues, and delivery of ordered items in a timely manner
? Uupdate e-mail/mailing addresses and membership status.
“BEACH KEEPER,” OBPA’s newsletter was to be mailed out this summer and is now also available online.
The group has asked its member to either send an e-mail to info@obpa.org or a note via U.S. mail to update e-mail and/or mailing addresses, including your name, address, city/state/zip, and easy to reach phone number. This information will be cross-checked with the database and updated.
?The updating and purging of our present database is both a slow and ongoing process,? the media release said. ?Shortly, you should be receiving frequent e-mail updates from OBPA’s board from its newly implemented database program.?
The summer newsletter, now available, on the Web site has information on a number of beach access issues, including the upcoming legal batter over critical habitat for wintering plovers in the seashore.
Check it out, and don?t forget the annual meeting on Saturday, Aug. 8, at 5 p.m. at the Anglers Club in Buxton.
CHAPA FUNDRAISER
The Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance, an alliance of pro-access groups that helps raise funds for legal defense of beach access, will sponsor another fundraiser on Sunday, Sept. 6, at the Fessenden Center in Buxton.
This event is being organized by CHAPA and by Rob Alderman, who is the host and producer of the? The Outer Banks Angler? fishing program and the owner of The Outer Banks Angler store located in Buxton.
Alderman was also the organizer of the very successful ?Stand in the Sand? event last June.
This year?s events will include barbecue and lots of sides, music, booths with local arts and merchandise, and games for the adults and kids. (Yes, the dunking booth ? with Alderman in it — will be back.) There will also be a dance in the evening.
Stay tuned to The Island Free Press for more details.
This year?s event will raise money for legal fees to defend the lawsuit that CHAPA has filed against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over critical habitat for the wintering plover. CHAPA has already sued once over this issue ? and had the critical habitat designation set aside. Now it?s back.
Environmental groups have filed as intervenors on the side of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The legal wrangling is already underway and will get more interesting and expensive with filings by all sides later this year.
Rob Alderman wants to hear from you if you can volunteer, cook, or contribute funds, goods, or services. You can reach him at 252-305-2017 or email him at fishmilitia@aol.com
