Boyle changes venue of status conference

U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle has changed the venue of a status conference on Wednesday, Jan. 23, from Raleigh to Elizabeth City.

The conference will be at 2 p.m. in the federal courthouse.  The judge has set aside an hour for the conference on the court schedule.

The status conference will deal with follow-up to a lawsuit filed against the Park Service by environmental groups in 2007 over its lack of an off-road vehicle plan at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

The lawsuit was settled with a consent decree in 2008, and last February the Park Service’s plan for ORV use became final.

While many assume that the case ended in February, Boyle has continued to have status conferences on the plan and the protection of birds and turtles at the seashore.  He had two status conferences last year.

Also, last February, the Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance filed a lawsuit to stop the park’s final ORV plan.  That suit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., but was sent last month back to the Eastern District of North Carolina.

It is assumed that case will also be assigned to Boyle and will be discussed on Jan. 23.