2011 is too late for ORV plan

so it was written in the article..."And critics of the agreement would be wise to ponder the message they're sending to potential visitors." I believe that it would be wise of a journalist to actually get the facts about the story that you're writing about. If you had done your homework, your article would've sounded like you actually knew what you were talking about, and it would've sounded alot different.

What has happened to unbiased reporting? How about doing a story on the hundreds of Least Terns and Black Scimmers nesting on the dredge island Cora June. These birds are less than 600 meters from the Recreational Area but they are conveniantly left out of the counts by the enviro groups.

16 U.S.C. Section 1a-1 states, "The authorization of activities shall be conducted in the light of the high public value and integrity of the National Park System and shall not be exercised in derogation of the values and purposes for which these various areas have been established, except as may have been or shall be directly and specifically provided by Congress."
The enabling legislation of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, dated August 17, 1937 (50 Stat. 669), provides in part:
Sec. 4. Except for certain portions of the area, deemed to be especially adaptable for recreational uses, particularly swimming, boating, sailing, fishing, and other recreational activities of similar nature, which shall be developed for such uses as needed, the said area shall be permanently reserved as a primitive wilderness and no development of the project or plan for the convenience of visitors sh

Good 'ol Fred coming to our collective rescue from opposing opinion.
Seriously, compose in Word, use properties/statistics to count characters, cut and paste here and note the character numbers at the end, as I did earlier (733). It will keep the censors off your case. On the other hand, just like in critical habitat or letters to your Congressional reps, brevity matters. I mean, who wants facts? That could lead to an informed decision. 431

From north to south,Oregon Inlet/Bodie Island spit,ALL of Cape Point,Hatteras Inlet,the BEST fishing places on the OBX are FULLY closed...and many others!I know not what from what teat you suckle but surely your milk from south (M.O.N.E.Y)is going to wither with the rate of your pandering dribble of gross inaccuracy and extremely POOR reporting.Do you hear the sound of your paper boxes being removed from the businesses that you have slandered and offended?...I do.

4)Cont'd - Consent Decrees by Judicial Protocol are only to be used against State/Local Governments/Officials in civil cases. It is questionable if it is to be used when the Federal Government is a defendant. By the Federal Judge signing off on this Consent Decree, he has effectively violated Article IV, Section 3 and the 11th Amendment of the United States Constitution with regards to State rights. We now have the Judicial Department, assisted by three non-governmental organizations dictating and running the CHNSRA, not the Executive Department, specifically the Department of the Interior and National Park Service(See Jim & Ginny Comment).

This is in response to repeated guideline violations on this story.

We do our best to strictly enforce the 750-character limit for each post.

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2) There was no opportunity for the public to attend the meetings while the new Environmental regulations were being developed between NPS, USFWS and the three non-governmental organizations. This clearly violates the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
3) To this day, citizens have been unable to obtain all unclassified information, and there have been many requests, such as scientific information and correspondence between the three non-governmental organizations, NPS, USFWS and Federal Judge Terrence Boyle. This violates the Freedom of Information Act.
4) The Federal Judge allowed the use of a Consent Decree to settle the frivolous lawsuit. The Consent Decree effectively grants special rights to species, overlooking the fact that the Constitution grants rights only to persons. Consent Decrees by Judicial Protocol are only to be used against State/Local Governments/Of

has every right to rescind the Consent decree. The Consent decree has dramatically altered the nature of the Park from its origional designation, a National Seashore Recreation Area and turned it into a national preserve for non-endangered wildife. Their "science" and claims could not stand up in a fair court. A fair court is NOT described by a Judge who within a few sentances of the first hearing, without having heard any testamony either for or against the proposed injunction, openly declares he is willing to give the plaintifs what they seek. And furthermore, denies Dare and Hyde Counties and the ORV groups a chance to present a case that completely, scientifically and legally refuted the claims of the plaintiffs.
To the fellow that advocates walking and camping, come tote my stuff. I'm 45% disabled. Oh, by the way, camping is illegal on the beach and carries a stiff fine. My challenge

either delete the whole thing or leave it in its entirty. The missing segment is as follows:
ignore Congressional Acts regarding appropriate rulemaking procedures.
"To remind the Service of the true definition of “essential habitat,” in 2007 the Center filed a notice of intent to sue the agency over that decision (Piping Plover Habitat) and 54 others that have driven imperiled species across the country closer to extinction." (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/birds/piping_plover/index.html)
Co-sponsoring this bill will send a clear message that management of federal lands is the sole discretion of the federal agency in charge and must be done in accordance with Congressional Acts. Anything less, continues to abdicate governmental responsibility for federal land management and encourages obscene expenditures of government funds on legal fees. Clearly t

If any readers are just learning of this issue and about to weigh in, please consider that this editorial here is simply one misdirected opinion and source, and I would ask that you explore more broader sources to get the facts, many of which have been noted here in other comments. The Island Free Press is a good place to start for the real story. Then, please contact your US Senate and House representatives and urge them to support the HR6233 and S3113 bills, introduced by NC Senator's Dole and Burr and NC Rep Jones.

This article is unbelievable. For me, it’s not only a “public access issue”, but more importantly, it’s a "upholding the law issue." Your so called “sensible, short term approach” agreement and how it was obtained by the people who orchestrated, is violating the following Federal Laws:
1) DOW, NAS, SELC, NPS and USFWS has re-written new Environmental Regulations (Consent Decree) and had them approved by a Federal Judge without public review and comment as required by the Federal Administrative Procedures Act, and also required by NEPA. No other members of the REG-NEG had input. At the last minute prior to the Federal Judge signing off on the Consent Decree, the Interveners defendants were forced to accept the agreement or face a total beach closure in which the federal Judge stated we was ready to ordain. This also violates Article IV, Section 3 of the United States Constitution. 2) Th

My take is the editor is desperate to protect another "endangered species" (printed newspaper). Create controversy to keep readership up that can result in advertising revenue.

Responding to such drivel plays right into their hands. Best response is to just stop buying the rag.

obviously has NO idea how our community is impacted by the loss of access
to our beaches. People are losing their incomes from this and their homes.
The Virginian Pilot also owns the local publication, The Island Breeze.
From the statements made in this article I can conclude that both these publications don't support the lifestyle and heritage of the area.I urge everyone to immediately contact their senators and congressmen to support legislation to restore access to our beaches.

Since the Va Pilot believes that Special Interest Groups and a Federal Judge should make National Park policy,while not even mentioning the public,then I believe if you live on the Outer Banks or love the Outer Banks you should not purchase,distribut,nor advertise in any Va Pilot owned or published paper.

Just 5 days ago the Pilot said that ORV management should not be heard,nor decided upon by Congress,but they fully believe that Special Interest Groups along with a Biased Federal judge should.Since the Pilot doesn't care about the people or economics of the Outer Banks,then you should not care if we boycott your A$$.

The court’s decision to accept amendments to the duly authorized CHNSRA Interim Plan (consent decree) is not only having a severe economic impact on Dare County and NC, but also, by eliminating discretion on the part of the park service, has the effect of delegating managerial functions of the NPS to the court and the private environmental groups. That is, the consent decree is an unconsititutional delegation of federal authority.

This problem is not limited to CHNSRA or NC. In fact, each time the courts overturn management decisions made by governmental units, the courts embolden environmental groups. For example, the following comment from the Center for Biological Diversity's clearly shows the Center's total disregard for the governments role in management of federal lands and their confidence in being able 1) to dictate to the NPS and USFWS, and 2) to ignore Congressional Act

This is not an ORV only issue. The beaches are being closed to pedestrians as well. The ORV issue is a right partially earned when N.C. donated Pea Island as a refuge in 1952. This consent decree is having an adverse effect to 100+ people for every bird it claims to "protect". I would love to hear the opinion of those that believe this is the right thing to do if it was their jobs, land and lives that were being devastated.

that the Pilot, in exercising their right to free speech, continues to do so irresponsibly. One portion of the opinion is correct; that 2011 is too long to wait for relief from the oppressive measures in place. The remainder is uninformed. Again, the Pilot fails in it's duty. The best way to restore sanity is through support of the HR6233 and S3113 bills currently pending in committee. Fishermen, sportsmen, sunbathers, kayakers, surfers, PEDESTRIANS, FAMILIES, all US citizens would like reasonable beach access restored, and managed by the US Park Service. If it doesn't happen by 2011, the finger needs only to point to Dow/Audubon. They have no interest in negotiating now that they have what they want through litigation. 733

ORV's on the outer banks should be banned - period. Have people forgotten why we have two legs? We weren't bombarded by those noise makers when I visited those beaches in the 1950's, and there is no reason to punish today's visitors with those contraptions now.

of misunderstanding and repeated misinformation.I defy the author to come to Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreation Area and show me the supposed 23.9 miles of ORV accessable beach or the 50 odd miles of pedestrian accessable beaches. More beach was closed to all access last week and the turtles have barely begun to show. The consent decree which you so quickly brush off has resulted in significant loss of buisness. It also cost me my job. You complain about the April 1, 2011 deadline but fail to mention it was the environmental groups that stipulated that date. Obviously never having attended a negotiated rulemaking meeting, you are also unaware that the environmental groups are stalling the process, with intent. You ignore the fact that these environmental groups hepled formulate the interem strategy, that USFW issued a Finding of No Significant Impact(FONSI) and that under t

It is without a doubt you have not done any investigative searching before you print a story. If you need facts check with islandfreepress.com or contact CHAPA. When you get information from sources who claim to be experts is not what the truth of the matter is all about. Citizens of this country are being denied access to a National Recreational Area. This is not a wildlife refuge but an area that was set up for the enjoyment and Recreation of Citzens.
And yes there should be legislation passed by Congress to turn this Consent Decree around due to the fact that the economic impact on the people of Dare and Hyde counties in North Carolina is already showing to be problematic.

Jim Boggs

Ok, this is the second editorial supporting the shutting down of major portions of Hatteras and Ocracoke islands. It is obvious you done fish or you would know that the areas shut down are the prime fishing spots. You also state that our elected officials should stay out of the fray and let the judge make the call.

Our elected officials have every right to try and correct once again a judge making law from the bench. If anyone needs to stay of the issue it is the Va. Pilot. You have enough problems in Va. Noth Carolina is perfectly capable to handle our own problems without your meddling.

As a resident of the OBX I can assure you that we will not accept the destruction of our economy and way of life without a fight. I think your transportation problems require your attention much more than two birds and a turtle.