ORV fight is no place for Congress

A CONSENT decree establishing protections for vulnerable species of birds and sea turtles on the Outer Banks may need tweaking, but it's a job best left to the National Park Service, islanders and conservationists - not Congress.

On Wednesday, three North Carolina Republicans - U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr, and U.S. Rep. Walter Jones - introduced bills that would scuttle a court agreement reached by environmentalists, a local coalition of off-road vehicle users, federal park officials and others in April.

The agreement, approved by a federal judge, settled a lawsuit filed by the National Audubon Society and the Defenders of Wildlife to set up temporary boundaries around wildlife nesting areas.

Critics contend the new rules are too restrictive; to a degree, they have a point. When U.S. District Judge Terence Boyle signed off on the deal, few anticipated that acts of vandalism would threaten to undermine the fragile compromise.

On separate occasions, someone has knocked down fences and signs around protected areas, triggering automatic expansions of areas off-limits to ORVs and pedestrians. We've argued that those expansions should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

The legislation proposed by Dole, Burr and Jones goes much further - and too far. They're asking for reinstatement of a weaker interim plan that prompted the lawsuit by environmentalists.

The consent decree isn't popular with some island residents and visitors, including people who've engaged in a longstanding Outer Banks tradition of driving up to the shoreline and casting a fishing line. But the boundaries aren't onerous, and they're designed to change as shorebirds and sea turtles come and go.

According to a National Park Service report dated June 5, approximately 12 miles of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Park were closed because of the consent decree. Another 32 miles were off-limits because of safety or seasonal closures. But ORV drivers still had access to 22 miles, and pedestrians were free to roam roughly 55 miles more, according to the Park Service report.

Environmentalists say they're already seeing benefits. After years of declines in nesting, the number of breeding pairs of piping plovers has increased by at least one and the number of breeding pairs of American oystercatchers has risen by 11.

The restrictions are undoubtedly an inconvenience for people accustomed to driving on the beach nearly anywhere they pleased.

But the facts remain that (1) President Nixon ordered the National Park Service to institute a management plan for off-road vehicles at the seashore park more than 35 years ago, and (2) a long-overdue interim plan, belatedly set in place last summer, was insufficient to protect the park's wildlife.

Under terms of the consent decree, the Park Service has until Dec. 31, 2010, to adopt a long-term management plan. At the agency's Internet site, officials say they hope to work with residents and conservationists to find a way to end "decades of conflict and uncertainty" over ORV use and wildlife management at the park.

It's difficult to envision how Congress could wade into these murky waters and improve the situation.

The legislation introduced Wednesday is a political response to a political controversy. The management plan is better left where Judge Boyle wisely placed it - in the hands of National Park Service scientists, islanders and conservationists.