The Virginian-Pilot
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The Virginian-Pilot
Two people who jumped off a charter boat and entered a closed area on Bodie Island have been issued the season's first notices of violation related to beach closures, National Park Service Outer Banks Group law enforcement specialist Paul Stevens said Friday.
Stevens said the charter's customers, a juvenile male and an 18-year-old male, both from Minnesota, were spotted by a park ranger Thursday morning inside the pre-nesting area at the pond by the east side of the Bonner Bridge just north of the spit. The closure is marked by signs, he said.
According to Stevens, the captain of the vessel, the Beach Bum, said his customers, who were fishing for puppy drum, had entered the closure but didn't go in very far. But the park ranger told Stevens he felt it warranted a violation notice rather than a warning. They can pay a fine of about $150 each or schedule a hearing in federal court to challenge the citations.
"From what the captain told me, they were trying to get a vantage point on the drum so they could chase them back to the boat," Stevens said. He said he could not release the names of those cited.
The pre-nesting closures were established before March 14 as required in a court-sanctioned agreement. The enclosures were put where protected shorebirds are expected to breed and nest based on activity in previous seasons. Areas closed to off-road vehicles and pedestrians are expected to increase after nesting begins later in the spring.
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What happened??
There was almost a full page of comments on this story as late as last night, and now today there is only one? What happened?
Notice's vs Tickets
I have learned something new today. When you get a notice you will have to pay a fine of $150.00. I wonder what you will pay if you get a ticket???. The VP's wording needs to be looked at!.
Why the second printing
Even on this second story I still feel that over zealous Park Rangers need to actually do some good things instead of trying to prevent people from using a recreational area such as our seashore. It was just a couple of days ago, while visiting the Wright Bros. I saw a plover running up the hill. Are we going to shut that down too? How about a couple of years ago, at the wildlife preserve on pea Island, You know the place dedicated to be the rest area for all the geese, ducks, etc. How about the killing of thousands of geese, were there any plovers in the mix?
My thought is this;
If the Park Service is charged with the protection of plover, seagulls, and all the birds in the seashore; then surely they have liability for the birds actions. So the next time you experience a cut tire from a scallop shell on the road to Hatteras, or a seagull crashes into your window and breaks it, or a bird dives into your automobile and causes damage, shouldn't we as the victims submit a NPS claim for damages? Oh yeah....let's don't forget the deer.
On second thought we better not do this, it would tie the rangers up with paper work and keep them off the beaches, where they need to be.