Everyone has seen the ?for dummies? books. Various Web sites say the series began in 1991 with ?DOS for Dummies,? and, as of last year, there were about 1,700 ?dummies? titles. These days there is even ?dummies.com,? which features videos for dummies.
I don?t know about you, but I bought several of those books years ago when I was trying to figure out personal computers and the Internet.
Now, the good news for us is that the Coalition for Beach Access has produced its version of ?DEIS for Dummies.?
This document will walk you through the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for ORV rulemaking at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and give you the information you need to respond effectively with public comments that are due by May 11.
The title of the document is ?Coalition for Beach Access DEIS Assessment.?
?DEIS for Dummies? is my name for it ? less politically correct perhaps but much closer to reality..
Reading the 810-page document is no easy task for anyone. Very few have probably made it through all the pages. And synthesizing the information and composing comments are even more daunting.
You should not feel like a dummy if you don?t know where to begin with making your voice heard on the seashore?s future.
You should read the coalition?s guide and use it to help you in negotiating the complex issues that will have far-reaching impacts on the lives of visitors to the seashore and all of us who live here.
You can use it as to finding the changes in beach access under the Park Service?s preferred alternative that matter most to you, considering changes that the coalition suggests are significant, and submitting your comments.
The Coalition for Beach Access is a group of organizations committed to the preservation of pedestrian and ORV access to the beaches within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area. These organizations participated in the NPS negotiated rulemaking process, but the committee of stakeholders was not able to reach a consensus and was disbanded in February, 2009.
Members of the coalition currently are the American Sportfishing Association, the Avon Property Owners Association, Cape Hatteras Anglers Club, the North Carolina Beach Buggy Association, Outer Banks Preservation Association, United Mobile Sportsfishermen, and the Watersports Industry Association.
Various members of the group have read and considered every single chapter, chart, map, and table in the DEIS.
Meeting at least once, and sometimes twice, a week since the first of the year, the members, who are all volunteers and have businesses to run, have carefully considered the preferred Alternative F and proposed changes that they believe will benefit both protecting resources and preserving access to the seashore. That includes both ORV and pedestrian access.
Then they pulled all of this information together in a clear, concise 14 pages to help you find and comment on the issues that matter most to you.
You?ve got to admit that?s better than digesting 810 pages. Some of the points in the coalition?s guide may lead you to further explore issues in the DEIS. But at least it will be easier to find what you are looking for more reading.
The coalition unveiled its ?DEIS for Dummies? at a workshop in Buxton on Tuesday evening, April 13. That meeting was followed by meetings in Ocracoke on April 14 and Kill Devil Hills on April 15.
About 250 people packed the auditorium of the Cape Hatteras Secondary School to hear coalition leaders summarize the DEIS, highlight the differences they have with the NPS preferred alternative, make suggestions for commenting, and explain why it is so important for everyone to be heard on the rule that will guide beach access on the seashore for the next 10 to 15 years.
The meeting lasted only about an hour, but covered a lot of ground. Coalition members answered questions and handed out information after it ended.
The Coalition for Beach Access and its member organizations have a very definite and partisan point of view on the future of vehicles and pedestrians on the seashore. It?s also well studied and research view. And I?m sure the coalition members would be the first to say that their work has not been peer reviewed!
The group believes that the Park Service preferred Alternative F, like the consent decree, goes too far with its restrictions on access.
?The impact of Alternative F will be substantial,? David Scarborough, a coalition volunteer who assembled much of the guide for the public, said in the April 13 meeting. ?It provides negligible benefits for resources and significant impairment of visitor resources.?
It also will have a substantial impact on the lives of residents of the island. The coalition says the economic impact will be serious, as will the changes in traditional uses of the beach and the associated social and cultural customs. It will change, they say, the quality of life for islanders and the experience of visitors.
The Coalition for Beach Access ? all community volunteers ? have done an admirable job of helping us ordinary folks negotiate the DEIS.
Now we need to do our part by making our comments to the National Park Service on a policy that could significantly alter our way of life.
Whether you agree or disagree with the coalition?s assessment, make your comment by May 11.
Don?t make excuses. Don?t put it off. Don?t wait for the Outer Banks Preservation Association or some other group to speak up for you. Don?t assume everyone else will do it so you don?t have to.
Just comment.
All the details on how are in ?DEIS for Dummies.?
FOR MORE INFORMATION
To download DEIS for Dummies, go to http://www.obpa-nc.org/position/assessment.pdf.
The Dare County Web site, Preserve Beach Access, videotaped the meeting in Buxton. To watch the video go to http://www.darenc.com/video/player.php?title=beach_access_04_13_10.wmv
A more complete position statement by beach access organizations can be downloaded at www.obpa-nc.org/position/statement.pdf
An Electronic Copy of NPS DEIS can be downloaded at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=358&projectId=10641&documentID=32596
Irene,
You left out the ?DEIS for Dummies? link
http://www.obpa-nc.org/position/assessme..
If it weren?t for that document, my ADHD might have beaten me out of responding at all. I think the Coalition did a wonderful job. I?m proud to be associated with them. I just hope comments matter.
Kudos on your sense of irony, Irene.
Salvo Jimmy,
The coalition material is available. Go to the end of the blog under more information. It says Click Here for ?DEIS? for Dummies. Put the cursor over ?click here? and click and there is the PDF of the coalition?s work.
Irene
Obviously I failed to read ?Click Here? for Dummies.
I was looking for an underlined site like it posted for the other 3 links and in my post.
?I just hope comments matter.?
They haven?t so far. So what makes ANYONE think they will now. These people have the money and agenda. This is process and document clearly show this is the end of Hatteras Island as we ONCE knew it. No matter what comments are made, the NPS is going to stick their plan, no changes, read it and weep? Is there ANY track record of them listening to anyone from the Pro Access side?
Geez, justsosad, you make me want to go drink my supper.
Good news, Remember what just happened in MA,VA,and NJ. Don?t forget Audubon?s bad Karma with Toyota. The American people and masses are finished, done, shot, spent, later, alto, with small brained people and special interest groups. We will see them all in November?.. or court!
Public Comments.
The NPS has been soliciting public comments since the 70’s. And in all that time public access has diminished.
Uncle Albert summed up the experience of this recreational seashore in his quote on insanity.
The residents and visitors have beaten their heads against the brick wall of bureaucracy for decades. Always loosing a small part of their access to public lands.
The latest access report from the NPS lists transgressions into the resource.
Surprise, Surprise. No dread ORV was responsible.
You pedestrians better watch out, you are center stage in this drama. Being bipedal means you are excluded also. Birkenstocks are not a pass through the velvet rope.
Under the guise of an ORV plan the entire visitation, to what was supposed to be a public recreation area, is going to be ruled.
First the vehicles, then the pedestrians, then the pets and finally closing the beaches in front of the villages from dusk to dawn.
You might say I am paranoid, but 13 months of RegNeg tells me I am right on track.
What was a vibrant culture and economy has slowly been dragged down as the target of the environmental movement. It was easy picking. The NPS continued to ignore the orders, let the economy prosper, and life went on.
Then came the ultimate Wedgie from the environmental groups. A Federal Judge who agreed with them and the NPS who had no excuses for their inaction.
The funny thing about the whole charade is that we would be better off with the Consent Decree. Lest restrictive than Alt F, which just heaps insult on injury.
What choice do we have but to continue to try to put things right down here? If we just keep throwing ourselves at the brick wall we may be victorious, if not, at least we went down fighting.
I want to say, that I encourage everyone to make comments. Who knows, they might do something, though I am HIGHLY doubtful they will. I?m getting very frustrated in my creation of my comments. I feel very overwhelmed trying comment on this tidal wave rules and restrictions that are being imposed for no reason other than to make a bunch of lawyers happy and waste a PILE of money and paper.
Good Morning to all the readers across America!
Remember that as American Taxpayers this is our Beach, our Park, and it is being taken away from us. Every day I receive a report on my computer discussing National Parks. The loss of ACCESS to our National Parks is an epidemic???which must be cured! Read the DUMMIES book and become a part of the solution because if you don?t you?re gonna find out that our beach is for “birds only”. Here?s the link to the comment page online at NPS:
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm..
Click on the “comment on the document” in the lower left corner.
The good people that are heading up this process need help from the millions of people that visit OBX??..Do your part RIGHT NOW!
Please don’t get me wrong.
Just because the NPS has continued it’s slow march to turn the Seashore into some kind of hybrid Pea Island, is no reason not to continue to bring the results of the restrictions into the light.
What they want is a plan that will free them from the Consent Decree and it will happen.
They are between the rock and the hard place. SELC and Judge Boyle.
Now you have a Judge that compares turtle nests, based on ORV volume, to an area that is outside the nesting area, and concludes that the lack of regulations on ORV,s was connected to the number of turtle nests.
Hello.
So send those comments in and hope that the NPS will wake from their deep sleep and recognize their dual mandate.
Consolidating what?s left in one place
Below is the schedule of NPS Public Comment Meetings for the DEIS
In addition Frank (Frank & Fran’s) will do Workshops the day before the Raleigh and Hampton NPS meetings. These workshops are like the ones already held on the OBX. That schedule info is below as well.
Ocracoke, North Carolina
Monday, April 26, 2010 – 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Ocracoke School, 1 Schoolhouse Road, Ocracoke, NC 27960
(Doors open at 8:30 a.m. for sign-in, the meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m.)
Buxton, North Carolina
Monday, April 26, 2010 – 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Cape Hatteras Secondary School, 48576 Hwy. 12, Buxton, NC 27920
(Doors open at 4:30 p.m. for sign-in, the meeting will begin at 5:00 p.m.)
Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 – 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Wright Brothers National Memorial First Flight Centennial Pavilion, 1000 Croatan Hwy., M.P. 7 ½, Kill Devil Hills, NC 27948
(Doors open at 5:30 pm for sign-in, the meeting will begin at 6:00 pm)
Raleigh, North Carolina
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 ? 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
McKimmon Conference & Training Center, (NC State University Campus), 1101 Gorman Street
Raleigh, NC 27695
(Doors open at 5:30 pm for sign-in, the meeting will begin at 6:00 pm)
Hampton, Virginia
Thursday, April 29, 2010 ? 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Holiday Inn & Conference Center, 1815 West Mercury Boulevard, Hampton, VA 23666
(Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for sign-in, the meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m.)
Raleigh Workshop
From F&F Board. Note the time is in the title line
DEIS ACCESS WORKSHOP RALEIGH April 27, 6:00PM posted by Frank Folb Sr
NPS Will have public comments on April 28 as follows:
Raleigh, NC – Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
In support of the Coalition for Beach Access that includes OBPA, Cape Hatteras Anglers Club, NC Beach Buggy Assoc. and other groups; I will be hosting with the gracious help Jim Dargus of Shore Lures(Glass Minnows), a work shop on April 27, 2010 to quickly go through what the coalition has put together in a power point and handout session To help you learn more
about the DEIS and how to make informed and effective comments.
The meeting will be held at:
The BBQ LODGE, 4600 Capital Boulevard, Raleigh, NC 27604,(919) 872-4755
Cost to me and Jim will be $13.01 and we will have donation jar for anyone that attends to help, but that is totally up to you. This will include dinner, ice tea or coffee, tax and tip.
They would like to know how many we expect to attend the meeting I hpoe it will be over a hundred, but they will need advance notice of the number so please email me at ffff1@mindspring.com or call 252-995-4171 to let us know you will be there.
If you know somewone that wants to attend call them, if you know someone at a radio station that can give us a public announcement on this workshop call them, if you know someone at a TV station at will get a public announcement ou on this work shop call them and if you can get the local paper to put an announcement about the workshop please call them.
Many of you have asked how you can help. NOW IS TIME TIME TO BE HEARD!!!!!
Newport News Workshop
Frank Folb has now set up a Newport News VA Workshop at 6:30 PM 28 Apr at
Sports Marine Super Store
1071 J Clyde Morris Blvd
Subject: DEIS WORK SHOP NEWPORT NEWS, VA / Posted by: Frank and Frans / 04/16/10
Thanks to John Ewell and David Joyner we have a place to meet the night before NPS puts on their dog and pony show on the DEIS. We are fortunate that the workshops on Hatteras Island, Ocracoke and Kill Devil Hills have been completed and we have a video of the meeting that you can preview on http://www.preservebeachaccess.org if you want. I will go over the same subjects as the workshops already done and will leave plenty of time for questions. A donation jar will be at the front of the room to cover rental of chairs and sodas.
We have rented 75 chairs and I hope we have standing room ONLY!