The suit filed by the Defenders of Wildlife and the National Audubon Society against the National Park Service over its Interim Protected Species Management Plan to regulate ORV use and species management until a long-term rule is developed through the negotiated rulemaking process and an Environmental Impact Statement has finally been settled. A consent decree was signed recently by U.S. District Court Judge Terrence W. Boyle.
The decree will settle the lawsuit that was filed by the environmental groups over the off-road vehicle use on Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The decree keeps the beaches open to ORV's, however, with more restrictions that locals and vacationers are not accustomed to. The park service personnel will be posting signs at the seashore ramps that will prohibit beach driving from 10 PM to 6 AM starting May 1, 2008 to November 15, 2008. There will also be a buffer zone for pedestrians and beach drivers that will protect the piping plover nests once the chicks have hatched.
The three main nesting areas for the piping plover in 2007 were Bodie Island spit, Cape Point, and the South Point of Ocracoke. These areas could be closed to ORVs for at least two weeks, possibly longer if the susceptible shorebirds nest in the same places this summer. Where the birds nest and how the birds and their chicks move along the beach will determine how long the closures will last. The seashore superintendent Mike Murray says that the consent decree will mean a “significant reduction in ORV access during the peak summer season.” Most supporters of open beach access agree that they are not in favor of the consent decree but realize it could be worse than the alternative of shutting down the beaches altogether. Also, Carla Boucher, an attorney and member of the committee representing United Four Wheel Drive Association, asked Murray, the designated federal official in charge, to dismiss the Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Southern Environmental Law Center from the committee. Murray commented that he is not sure how he will deal with Boucher's request and that he has not even had time to read the request. The consent decree calls for the National Park Service to finish working on the long-term plan by December 31, 2010 and publish the final rule by April 1, 2011.
A few of the details of the consent decree settlement are as follows:
In the case of piping plovers, a threatened species, buffers for pre-nesting and nesting will remain the same in the settlement as in the interim plan which is 164 feet. Once hatched, the buffer zone for ORVs will be 3,281 feet in each direction. The buffer zone for pedestrians will be 984 feet. When the buffer zone for hatched plovers is in effect pedestrians will have limited access during daylight hours to a narrow strip above the mean high tide mark for walking, swimming and sunning. The buffer zone will move with the chicks once they are hatched. The park service may modify the buffer and allow ORV access in the 3,281 foot buffer on both sides of the nest if a 984 foot buffer is maintained between the chicks and the ORVs. Modifications to the buffer will depend on the movement of the adults and chicks from the nest. Piping plover chicks will be monitored from dawn till dusk, and any modifications of the 3,281 foot buffer on each side of the chicks will not be open to ORVs until the location of the chicks is determined and a sufficient buffer is assured. If a chick is killed or injured by an ORV within the 3,281 foot buffer the provision for modifying the buffer will be abolished.
The next meeting of the committee will be held May 8 and 9, at the Comfort Inn Oceanfront South in Nags Head. The day long meetings will begin at 8:30am and are open to the public. If you are unable to make it to the meeting you can still be involved by contacting our North Carolina congressmen to show your support for beach driving.
Article from the Island Free Press
|
