Has the Park Service dropped the ball again on ORV rulemaking?
We are literally on the eve of having the Park Service unveil its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and preferred alternative for ORV regulation on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Seashore superintendent Mike Murray says he expects the Notice of Availability of the DEIS to be published in the Federal Register just about any day now. That notice will open a 60-day public comment period and kick off a series of meetings, also to solicit input from the public.
The process has no doubt been slowed down again — this time by back-to-back crippling snow storms that have shut down the federal government in Washington, D.C., for most of this week.
It?s been a long and convoluted road to get to this point ? beginning with Park Service inaction on enacting a required ORV plan in the late 1970s to the negotiated rulemaking committee that was to recommend a plan to the Park Service. The committee ended its work last year without reaching consensus on a recommendation on ORV operation, so the task of formulating a preferred alternative went to the Park Service. However, the Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance (CHAPA) is charging that the DEIS is not complete because the Park Service did not address the issue of Traditional Cultural Properties, as it is required to do as part of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review.
CHAPA, a coalition of beach access groups, has asked the National Park Service to formally designate five popular areas of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore as Traditional Cultural Properties (TCPs).
The group has been raising the issue that these areas are potentially Traditional Cultural Properties since October of 2008.
?Since 2008, CHAPA has repeatedly asked the National Park Service and the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office for this important designation in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended,? noted spokesman Jim Keene, president of the North Carolina Beach Buggy Association, in a media release issued today. ?The National Park Service has not acted on multiple requests made by CHAPA to pursue the process for Traditional Cultural Properties designation.?
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The places CHAPA has targeted for Traditional Cultural Properties designation include Bodie Island Spit and beaches, Cape Point, Hatteras Inlet and the north and south ends of Ocracoke Island — all popular recreational areas in the seashore.
“These areas are vital to assure continued access to surf zones that have long played a central role in the traditional social, economic, and other cultural life ways of the Outer Banks,” Keene said. “This is a heritage we need to designate now and preserve for future generations.”
CHAPA also noted in a Sept. 2, 2009 letter to Murray that it had ?carefully reviewed The National Park Service National Register Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Traditional Cultural Properties,? and that it is confident that the points and spits are TCPs and are potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Sites.
The properties, CHAPA said, clearly meet the guidelines? verbatim criteria for a TCP in that they are:
? Components of a rural community whose organization patterns of land use reflect the cultural traditions valued by it long-term residents
? A location where the communities have traditionally carried out economic and other cultural practices important in maintaining their historic identity.
?We made it clear that we expected that the federal government do this (evaluate the properties), because the development of the ORV rules is a federal action subject to full NEPA review, including Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA),? said Chris Egghart, a cultural resources professional who has consulted with CHAPA on this issue, in an e-mail.
?As the properties clearly meet the criteria for potential TCPs as published in NPS?s own guidelines,? Egghart wrote, ?it is clearly up to the NPS to evaluate them to determine if they really are TCPs.
?This has not been done,? he continued. ?In fact, the process has not even been initiated.?
Therefore CHAPA is claiming that the DEIS cannot be complete without the Section 106 compliance.
In response, the National Park Service says that it has met its responsibilities in the NEPA process generally, and, in particular, with the National Historic Preservation Act.
?There seems to be continued misunderstanding, or perhaps disagreement, in the distinct difference in the process requirements of Section 106 and Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act,? Murray said in an e-mail today.
This is how Murray explained the Park Service position in an Oct. 21 letter to CHAPA about the request to list the spits and points as TCPs:
?While we understand your basic request, we should clarify at the outset that designation of historic properties to the National Register is not a mandate of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. That section of the act addresses only the Federal government?s action in the treatment of properties already listed or determined eligible for listing in the National Register.?
That?s the point, says Chris Egghart.
The National Park Service has never evaluated the five areas as potential TCPs.
That, he says, is required and cannot be ignored.
In his e-mail, Murray also referenced correspondence between CHAPA and the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.
In April, 2009, CHAPA sent a letter to Jeffrey Crow, then the department?s State Historic Preservation Officer, requesting that the five sites be considered by the state for listing as TCPs with potential eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places.
Crow replied in June, 2009, that the applications did not ?provide adequate information.?
?Therefore,? he wrote, ?based on the limited information in your applications, there appears to be little if any justification that the properties qualify as TCPs.?
Based upon that correspondence and ?consultation? with the Park Service Southeast Regional Office and the National Register program staff in Washington, Murray wrote to CHAPA that ?Based upon existing information, we have determined that the sites you have listed do not qualify for listing on the National Register as TCPs.?
Egghart, the cultural resources specialist working with CHAPA, disagrees again.
He notes that the application to the state was rejected only because it did not contain sufficient information and not that it had been subjected to the rigors of an official evaluation.
?In short,? Egghart said, ?the letter is the unofficial opinion of a state employee based on incomplete information.?
The back and forth between CHAPA and Murray ended with a CHAPA letter to the superintendent, dated Oct. 29, 2009, and taking issue with his opinion, and the opinion of others in the Park Service, that the sites do not qualify as TCPs.
That letter has not been answered.
Last Friday, Feb. 5, CHAPA representatives met in person with Murray.
?The meeting with Jim Keene and other NCBBA representatives was helpful in improving our understanding of their claim that certain beaches may qualify as traditional cultural properties,? Murray wrote in an e-mail today. ?We are actively reviewing the information and consulting with NPS cultural resource specialists and traditional property experts about the issues, and then plan to provide a response to the October 29 letter.?
For its part, CHAPA doesn?t intend to budge.
?We will continue to pursue this issue,? Keene said today.
A perfect example of taking the humans out of what was supposed to be a recreational area for humans.
Welcome to the Cape Hatteras National Wildlife Refuge.
Humans must stay within the boundaries of the villages, for the time being.
The NPS will deal with the remnants of a viable economy at some later date.
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“In response, the National Park Service says that it has met its responsibilities in the NEPA process generally, and, in particular, with the National Historic Preservation Act.”
The requirement per NEPA is not “generally”, the requirement is “action forcing” provisions to make sure that Federal Agencies act according to the “letter” (verbatim compiance) and “Spirit” of the act
40CFR1500.1 NEPA Purpose –
(a) The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is our basic national charter for protection of the environment. It establishes policy, sets goals (section 101), and provides means (section 102) for carrying out the policy. Section 102(2) contains “action-forcing?? provisions to make sure that federal agencies act according to the letter and spirit of the Act. The regulations that follow implement section 102(2). Their purpose is to tell federal agencies what they must do to comply with the procedures and achieve the goals of the Act. The President, the federal agencies, and the courts share responsibility for enforcing the Act so as to achieve the substantive requirements of section 101.
(b) NEPA procedures must insure that environmental information is available to public officials and citizens before decisions are made and before actions are taken. The information must be of high quality. Accurate scientific analysis, expert agency comments, and public scrutiny are essential to implementing NEPA. Most important, NEPA documents must concentrate on the issues that are truly significant to the action in question, rather than amassing needless detail.
? Ultimately, of course, it is not better documents but better decisions that count. NEPA?s purpose is not to generate paperwork?even excellent paperwork?but to foster excellent action. The NEPA process is intended to help public officials make decisions that are based on understanding of environmental consequences, and take actions that protect, restore, and enhance the environment. These regulations provide the direction to achieve this purpose.
The website link enclosed is from a 2008 Hatteras Island Surf Film Festival that the Global Surf Network hosted to help educate the public and support OBPA, http://www.OBPA.org with their legal fund.
I have since come to realize that maybe money isn?t the answer at all and that education and massive organization is the solution and key.
The Powers To Be Will Never Get It??..
It shouldn?t take a Rocket Scientist to figure the solutions out in you add the factor of FREEDOM into the equation.
Who am I to suggest anything certainly I?m not a local so what right do I have at all?
National Park ? get it ? I?m an American with rights as equal to any so called educated or financially wealthy citizen within our divided 50 States.
The Nation needs to recognize first that Hatteras Island belongs to them and all others NPS, Local, State, and Federal Authorities are only servants ?to the people?.
Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness seem to mean different things to many different people but our children will hold the ignorant leaders in contempt if they just don?t leave well enough alone.
It is our God Given Right to be free and to be the ?true caretakers? of the land and the animals.
Make one, just one, good honest case of what was wrong, really honestly wrong, with the way it has been for generations that have past.
Money, Greed, Power Struggles, Ignorances has blinded the so called intelligent leaders to where they can?t even consider ?the people? and their passion to remain free.
This is all about control and land grabbing after the locals are put out of business and the tourist industry suffers even more.
Case in Point when talking about business ? WHERE is all of the Fishing and Surfing businesses at that have made millions of dollars of Hatteras Island and its ideal Recreational Facilities that were created by God to be enjoyed by his creation Man.
Where are the Sports Related Companies when it comes to this issue ? DIVIDED for sure.
Or is it apathy or indifference.
Why are the wholesalers & retailers and those who silently bitch over a beer behind closed walls.
I challenge those who care to pick a day, any day, to converge on Hatteras, yu know all those who claim to love the Outer Banks, Hatteras and Ocracoke Island ? quit talking ? come peacefully to Hatteras together ? reserve every Hotel, Motel, Campground, eat at the restaurants and shop at the gift shops and don?t forget the Chater Boats ? ook them full but more importantle bring your checkbook and earmark your check to go to the OBPA, http://www.obpa.org legal fund to be spent every last dime to represent your best interest ? FREEDOM?.
All watermen and women from Maine to Florida and beyond ? all those who have ever fished, surfed, or enjoyed walking on the beaches converge their to express your opinions.
The Surfing & Fishing Media need to attend and dedicate space for up close and personal interviews not with the pros, the famous but with all the average waterperssons that the industries sell too.
The National and Internation Surfing & Fishing Companies at the very least need to at least ask what can our Company do to help.
I challenge all surfing companies on the east Coast to throw at least one Surfing Contest in their town and send all of the money to the legal fund mentioned above in good faith.
I challenge all American Surfboard Shapers to donate one custom surfboard to be auctioned off in Buxton ? the home of the OBPA, http://www.OBPA.org?…
I chalenge every surfing nightclub to do an all day fundraiser in their hometown with their local bands and send every dime to help with this important coastal issue.
California ? step to the plate ? do the same up and down your coast. Help out??..
Now let?s not leave inlanders out any bands that live within 500 miles of Hatteras Island throw a Benefit in your area.
Last but not least you could just sit back and do nothing and leave it to others but time is running out because as I stated above ALL THEY LISTEN TO IS US ? ORGANIZED.
We have the power to sue those that oppose us because we all work hard and a litle bit from everybody will boost the legal fund to levels that our opposition will be unable to deal with and once organized we can be prepared for all future attacks on our FREEDOMS.
Never under estimate average citizens ? they are voters.
Make all of your decisions very carefully.
Poor decisions will come back to expose you sooner than you think.
Be wise ? Vote For Freedom ? Vote For The People.
FREE HATTERAS ? keep it the way God intended it to be.
Submit to what?s right for a change by doing what?s right for all of us and future generations to come.
The children will thak you for it, for sure.
Rob Beedie, GSN
Global Surf Network