DARE COUNTY
After 12 posts marking a bird closure were found knocked to the ground, the area closed to off-road vehicles on that beach has been expanded by 50 meters.
A National Park Service statement said the vandalism was discovered early Saturday at South Beach in Cape Hatteras National Seashore, about 1.7 miles east of Ramp 49. An investigation found two sets of footprints along the edge of the fence line. Footprints or tire tracks were not seen within the closed area, and the least tern colony appeared undisturbed, the statement said.
The posts holding "area closed" signs were broken and several closure markers were pulled out at the shoreline.
Under an agreement approved by a federal judge, the violation mandates the expansion of the closure. A second act in the same area would require a 100-meter expansion.
Most areas of Cape Point and South Beach are inaccessible to beach drivers and pedestrians after closures were established last Monday in preparation for shorebird nesting. Sections of beach were also closed at Bodie Island Spit near Oregon Inlet and South Ocracoke.
The agreement settled a lawsuit brought in October by the Defenders of Wildlife and the National Audubon Society against the park service. Dare and Hyde counties and the Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance later joined the suit and agreed to the settlement.
"I urge everyone to consider that future acts of intentional vandalism to resource protection areas will result in greater expansion of the buffers," Outer Banks Group Superintendent Mike Murray said in the statement. "These expansions are not discretionary under the consent decree."
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wtf
it is pretty obvious that the enviro-nazis are the ones doing this and they will continue to do so until the entire beach is closed. I hope that the people of the outer banks will revolt. it is not for some judge to decide who can drive on the beach it is payed for buy your tax dollars, you should be able to drive on it.
buffer zone vandalism
The Bird people are very suspect in this vandalism ... again the government has displayed it's ongoing loss of all common sense .. why would they include increased buffers for vandalism when there are so many cases in this country of radicals taking illegal actions and if these environmental radicals did in fact vandalize the buffer ... they sure got their reward!.. and the hard working local people (who have coexisted with the environment just fine before all this interference) again are having their lives impacted unjustly!
Beach Access
I don't know how you can even afford the gas just to waste it running up and down the beach (men and their toys!)
Ok lets think this over
2 years ago the Park service went into Pea island Bird Sanctuary and killed hundreds of geese that lived there. Then earlier this year or maybe last year the people of Southern shores demanded they eradicate the foxes there because they were a nuisance. Many of you say the animals were there first...so when are you going to move out of your home and burn it to the ground so the deer herds that were there first can graze on their land again. Over Regulation of the Outer Banks is killing all of us ...not just the birds, but the homeowners and most of all the small businesses that have made this beach what it is today.
The thing that will end up happening is the Park service at the behest of the enviro-crazies...will shut everything down and then after that in a reasonable amount of time will SELL permits to enter and use the area just like they did to the Blue Ridge mountains and the parkway in VA. Its is all greed ...that is the reason they want the long bridge to make sure they have control of it and can charge admission... to heck with the people who live there...and work there.
Please someone make some sense..Birds are adaptable just like all wildlife...give them a litt
The score Nature vs Man
In this battle it is nature 2 - man 0 ..LoL LoL..what will the next inning bring..I think we need to have a town hall meeting..a redneck get to gether if you will..Im getting mad I cant find anywere to drive my 4x4..I need sand or mud to flex som muscle...yeehaaaaa
Some of these comments. .
Reaffirm why I have a hard time with uneducated rednecks. I hope they lose all the beach, as the animals were there first, and they deserve it. They don't pollute with cigarettes, monofilament fishing line, beer cans and oil dripping out of their SUVs and redneck pick-em-up trucks.
"future acts of intentional
"future acts of intentional vandalism to resource protection areas will result in greater expansion of the buffers"
seems to me the Vandals are saying "expansion of the resource protection areas will result in greater vandalism."
good luck with the contest.
p.s.
and just what resource are we protecting?
birds eggs arent necessarily a resource...except chickens.
Details on a permit program
A permit system could help. Assateague Island National Seashore uses this approach. For more information about it, check the Assateague web site at: http://www.nps.gov/asis/planyourvisit/upload/OSV.pdf
breakfast
rednecks eat endangered species for breakfast, after they hang some folks at a kkk rally whoooooo hooooo get r done oh yeh that was for Ed Baskins!!!! you creep!!!!!!
Permits
Many of you will not like this, but they should limit the out of state visitors via a permit process. The majority of damage is from folks who just want to drive on the beach. It is simply too crowded and damagin gto the environment. Currituck has taken similiar actions for the ORV such as 4 wheelers.
Bird Lovers Are to Blame!!!
Did anyone stop to think to blame the bird lovers for the violations. They are the one's who did it. They knew the zone would be increased!!!!
What does it matter?
A liberal judge has apparently decided to close down the outer banks in the name of a stupid bird. Who cares if the bird "sanctuaries" are expanded, no one can use the beach anyway. Wow, talk about scaring the locals with tough measures when their way of life is destroyed already. I hope I see a public revolt coming.
Save the little birdies!
I love these little birds and glad that they are being saved. They go good with potatoes and don’t have that gamey taste like peregrine falcon or osprey.
buffer zone
At this point I wouldn't be surprised if it was the Enviro-Nazis doing the vandalism themselves. It's just another way of getting more of what they want, and I wouldn't be surprised if it happened again to get pushed out to 100.
Bird Closure
Oh, yeah...expanding the closure will certainly keep them out. The judge is enough to scare people away...oh yeah!