HATTERAS, N.C.
Confused visitors and tired park rangers marked the Memorial Day weekend on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands, where changing closures to protect birds have created broad and sometimes hard-to-define limits on beach access.
Sections of beach north of Avon were closed Monday because of an American oystercatcher. There was a violation of closure in Salvo south of Ramp 23 on Saturday that resulted in an increase in a buffer.
And a s the first holiday weekend of the summer season began Friday, a two-egg American oystercatcher nest was found on Hatteras Inlet Spit about 1.3 miles south of Ramp 55. That made the last of the favored off-road areas in Cape Hatteras National Seashore inaccessible to vehicles.
Under the terms of a consent decree approved last month, the National Park Service must establish large buffers around nesting shorebirds, which has resulted in many of the closures' blocking access to open areas.
At Bodie Island Spit near Oregon Inlet, closures have made it impossible to reach open beaches beyond the buffers. But about two miles of beach at Ramp 2 south of Coquina Beach remained open to off-road vehicles, as well as a short section to the south of Ramp 4.
Park service rangers were posted at the ramps to advise beach drivers about the rules and where they could go.
"They were very friendly and very helpful," said Peggy Byrd with Whalebone Tackle in Nags Head.
"There was an awful lot of people down there. It was like a parking lot, but everybody seemed to be behaving. I was glad to see that," she said.
More than 400 vehicles visited Oregon Inlet on Saturday, said Paul Stevens, park service law enforcement specialist. Because of the narrow corridor, a no-cruising policy had to be put in place.
On Sunday, the vehicle count went up to about 700. For about an hour in the mid afternoon, traffic was limited to one vehicle on for every vehicle that came off.
By Monday, the vehicle numbers had dropped to about 350.
Jon Anglin, the park service Outer Banks Group operations section chief, said that, overall, people were understanding and cooperative about the beach closures.
"It's been confusing, and it is really hard to explain," he said. "Handling all the information that is generated by all this is a nightmare. I know it's frustrating people."
The park service has made the closures available on Google Earth for the public to view, but the site is not in real time.
Because the situation with buffer locations and sizes is a moving target, even the park staff is having difficulty keeping up with which beaches are closed and when, and if pedestrians have access or not.
"It is really tough to explain to people," he said. "These are some of the things that we didn't even think of until we started implementing the consent decree."
The beach closures have also apparently been hard on island businesses, especially tackle shops.
"Normally, on Memorial Day weekend, the whole island will run out of ice," said John Mortenson at Red Drum Tackle Shop in Buxton, which he said has been about 50 percent down in business. "We didn't come close to running out of ice.
"Nobody came. It was a big bust-o this weekend."
Catherine Kozak, (252) 441-1711, cate.kozak@pilotonline.com
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Sorry, Senior Moment
Here is the link to the NPS maps I referred to. They are 27 May.
http://www.nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/googleearthmap.htm
MAPS
And when you look at the maps pointed out by hatterasnc, be sure to look at the latest dated 29 May for the BROWN areas. Yes those BROWN areas are open to pedestrians but in most cases require water access.
You can't just jump out of your vehicle and easily get there.
DRIVING, DRIVING, DRIVING
I'll say it again for those who don't seem to get it.
Where these closures are for the birds, you are not allowed to go there PERIOD, FULL STOP.
YOU CANNOT WALK THERE.
Time for a Counter Lawsuit
Would some of the many businesses so in trouble in Hatteras find a Lawyer that will file a counter suit against the bird lovers for your loss of income. I think this would close a few mouths. Please we are not the ugly child to be controlled and treated with Pity ....we love our beaches. I clean up after tourists all the time when I finally get to walk on the beach.
Hatteras Beach Closures
On Monday, May 26, Memorial Day 2008 represented a day of remembrance and honor for those brave men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice to uphold our basic rights and freedoms as Americans, living in the "Land of the Free"...
…And ironically enough, on that same day of such a revered national holiday, at approximately 2pm, south of Ramp 30 on Hatteras Island's National Seashore, yet another beach closure also took place, for a mere lone pair of "potential nesting" seabirds, which have yet to even drop a single egg, in a nest that may or may not ever exist. With our American flag flying from behind our 4WD, this local family of three -- father, mother and five-year old son with fishing rod still clutched in hand -- was asked to IMMEDIATELY vacate the beach by Park Service personnel that came in droves with stakes and signs in tow.
So much for “Land of the Free”...so much for basic American rights...ON OUR very own COUNTRY'S SOIL.
WHEN ON EARTH IS THIS MADNESS GOING TO CEASE?!
Lisa Sharp
Manteo
geezer
I appreciate your comment regarding 24 miles of open beaches according to the NPS. I challenge you to go and find it, either via ORV or on foot. You won't, unless you are prepared to wade around closure areas below the mean low tide line to get to the next open area. Again, not an ORV issue, a people issue. Please see the updated maps available at
http://www.capehatterasanglersclub.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=43
Add up the mileage numbers, but look very carefully at where the public beach accesses are in relation. I respectfully request all become fully informed on the issue, the extent of closures, the systemic nature of the closures to deny access to all persons, before posting up. Take the time, it is important and necessary to fully comprehend how the law, and the welfare of our citizens, have been compromised in this case.
I want to be clear that the NPS is as much a victim of this travesty as we citizens. Please do not take out your frustration on the NPS staff; they are making do in a very unfortunate position. And, most importantly, DO NOT violate any closures; the trangression of one becomes the punishment of all.
Mr. Fabulous
I have seen the complaint by Mr. Fabulous on another web site.
Maturity is the ability to bear an injustice without wanting to get even.
Makes no sense....
Its a complete joke to see good people loose business over a bird.Now all of these bird people will have all of the beach to watch these silly birds build nest just to watch them get washed away from high tide.,then go right back and rebuild in almost the same spot.While there are families standing in line to receive help from the state because they have lost their job or have been laid off because the company they were working for had to cut back due to lack of business.Who wants to drive for hours and hours and find out...you can't get on the beach until some other cars leave? You can't plan your vacation like that.We are only 3 hours from Buxton and we have no plans to take the drive,spend the money on gas,room and food if we can not drive on the beach as we have always done.....
Are these birds really worth it? If so build a safe place for them.Away from the tideline.....
Hatteras is better
The habitat protection zones are a compromise agreed to by the counties and the ORV group. The National Park Service says 24 miles of beach are still open to vehicles. Cape Hatteras National Seashore is better with this compromise.
It's about PEOPLE, not DRIVERS
To Ms. Kozak and the Pilot...the ongoing tone of your articles and editorials continues to be beach DRIVING vs. birds. This is actually an issue of beach access for ALL, vehicles and pedestrians. The lack of awareness of the inaccessibility of over 70% of the National Seashore and RECREATION area continues to be a problem. As part of a beach access information campaign this weekend, I had the opportunity to meet and discuss this issue with over 500 people. More than half were astonished to learn that the closed areas are TOTAL closures to all humans which, as I stated above, now place 70% of our lands, set aside for the enjoyment of the citizens of the United States, inaccessible.
As for the posters that seem to take some preverse joy in this miscarriage, shame on you. We will not miss you on the island.
Ridiculous
Question: What would happened if an Oyster Catcher builds a nest on the beach at 10th and Atlantic or 23rd and Atlantic?
Answer: Nothing. Unless the right people cry about it.
Ignorance is not bliss
I've been watching the ongoing debate about having access to drive on the beach. It's time people started to realize that their footprint (read i.e., tire tracks), is going to have a long term impact on the environment. Of course as usual, it seems that a certain mindset (or lack of mindset), seems to think that the beach is some sort of teflon coated environment that is there primarily and exclusively for their recreational enjoyment at whatever cost.
Help the environment by getting out of your truck and walk your fishing gear or whatever down to the shore and fish and enjoy the beach! You probably need the exercise anyhow.
Stop taking from nature and think about giving back. Don't you realize that how you handle environmental issues now will impact the earth years from now? There isn't going to be anything to enjoy if you don't start treating the Earth with care and right away. People will still come to the Outer Banks even if they can't drive on the beach.
The American Indians had the proper vision about the Earth. Everything is connected and what we do the Earth we do to ourselves. Human are the scourge of the planet.
Oh well
With gas prices soaring and the environment crumbling I guess we are gonna have to give up driving on the beach. Oh....well. Gimme a break folks. Take your time and money and do something constructive. Geez, that's like complaining that you can't pilot a yacht through a creek. It may be fun, but in the end it doesn't have any real purpose. Everyone brags about how beautiful it is on the beach and how wonderful nature is here. So why not take a step to preserve that fragile nature?
Lay an Egg on Intrusive Coastal Development
What needs to happen is for one of those feathered interlopers to lay an egg or two on proposed, or actual development projects. Regardless of gas prices, each resident of this Region should visit the OBX during the summer to not only enjoy the visitor friendly attributes of the OBX, but to support the locals and businesses that have taken a beating for the protection of feathered friends. The birds will adjust to the nesting thing. There have been instances where nesting sites have been eroded, relocated, or even destroyed due to Mother Nature herself and the birdies did just fine and relocated their nesting to other nearby settings. If an animal is vague about where to nest, then this equates to survival of the finest and fittest. Whereas it may be admirable to protect our wee feathered friends, it is also admirable to consider the impact of unecessary beach closures upon the residents of the OBX. Protect the actual nest(s) with location specific fencing. Something will be nesting all summer. Will the OBX loose all summer too?
I ran over an oyster catcher nest last week!
I sure did, felt kinda bad about it too! It also was not the first time! They nest right in a oyster shell filled parking lot! HAHA
Well I guess the control freaks win.
We all know the oystercatchers are not endangered and they have from Maine to Florida to lay all the eggs they want. These closures are nothing but a bunch of well meaning but ignorant of the facts control freaks showing that they have the ability to stop other people from enjoying being in nature. They don't realize that the condos they live in are not part of nature and is probably stopping a little birdie from building a nest in the tree that was torn down to build their parking garage or their starbucks. The livelyhood of many people will be affected by their stupidity. My family has already canceled our normal two week vacation and five or six weekend visits to the outter banks for this summer. Instead we'll be heading down to Florida. I guess crowded Daytona Beach and the mouse less hassle and more reliable than going to the outter banks only to find out there is no access to the beach. For the weekend trips we'll end up going campinig in mountains. Too bad, I guess the merchants and college kids are that were counting on summer income loose.
"nobody came. It was a big bust-o this weekend."
Karma, baby. I just love this ongoing story. Thanks, Pilot. Keep the sad-sack Hatteras business news coming. Be rude to me on vacation, will ya? That's what you get - cosmic retribution.
Should have known
I should have known it wouldnt take long first locals are kicked out of virginia beach you cant sneeze cant breathe now a tradition in hatteras is being taken away FOR SEAGULLS! A bird thats about as smart as well the ban itself. I could understand a legitmate issue like sea turtles or somthing of that sort but GIVE ME A BREAK! Maybe I will end up in myrtle Beach after all
MTMSR
That is exactly what they are telling you 150 METERS. But when the eggs hatch that buffer zone increases to 200 METERS. Now the Buffer Zone for the piping plover chicks when they hatch from the eggs are 1000 METERS!!!!!!! So that translates into 3,280 feet one way from the nest but we have to go each way from the nest. So its really 6,560 feet of restricted area for a bird that will fit into the palm of your hand. 1.24 MILES.
SAD but TRUE.
Where were the birds then?
I >>HAD<< been going to Cape Hatteras (The Point) since the 1990 when I arrived here in the Va Beach area. We never bothered the birds and they never bothered us except for trying to steal you bait when you are not watching.
Then the tree huggers came. They claimed damage to habitat. I agree that some 4-wheelers did go off the beaten path but it was rare since doing so might get you stuck in soft sand. I spent MANY lazy afternoons on the beach minding my own business. What I did note was that there more birds than ever before, but I never did see ONE tree hugger out there counting birds. If they did they must have been blind because they sure must have missed many nests. THEY ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE.
O.k, so I won't be coming to NC this year. I won't spend my $150-200 per trip on supplies that I normally would have. Multiply that times 8-10 times a year. That amount probably won't make much of a difference. Multiply that amount several hundred times - NC I hope you take notice because there are many more than that that are not coming.
To all those beach bums that are feeling the pinch of NC beach closures: Go north to Assateague Island, MD. Yes, you need a permit to drive t