The Virginian-Pilot
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Five signs marking a closed section of beach on Ocracoke Island were vandalized Monday morning, resulting in expansion of the closure as required by a court agreement, the National Park Service reported today in a news release.
“This was the first deliberate act of vandalism of the 2009 season,” said Cyndy Holda, spokeswoman for the National Park Service Outer Banks Group.
The beach at South Point is one of the pre-nesting closures established in Cape Hatteras National Seashore before March 14 to protect anticipated breeding areas of shorebirds.
The 2-inch-by-2-inch wooden posts were broken off at the ground, the statement said, and vehicle tracks were evident at three of them. No footprints were found.
Under the terms of the consent decree signed last April, vandalism of fencing requires a 50-meter expansion of the closed area. Off-road vehicle access is possible along the ocean shoreline to the southeast corner of the point, but it is stopped beyond that because of the width of the buffer. Pedestrian access is permitted past the buffer below the high tide line along portions of the inlet shoreline outside of the pre-nesting closure.
On Thursday, two citations were issued to a juvenile male and an 18-year-old male for violations at a pre-nesting closure on Bodie Island. There was no vandalism, Holda said, so that closure did not require an expanded buffer.
Anyone with information about the Ocracoke violation is asked to call the Park Service law enforcement rangers at (252) 928-5111.
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Uninformed
Hey folks - please take the time to become informed about an issue before you post here. It is embarrassing to read uninformed comments and name-calling from people who obviously have not visited the affected area or read any of the extensive, detailed information readily available on the issue.
Good idea
I agree. This rule will ruin enjoyment of the beach. How am I supposed to enjoy the outdoors over the whining of all these ‘tough’ ATVers as they are forced to walk, walk on the hot sand?!! For people who claim to love nature and the outdoors so much, they certainly hate for any of it to actually be, you know, natural.
neck is a smart person
i want to thank Neck for his comment, hopefully logic and respect will prevail, it's the least we can do, it's a different beach without traffic, the writer Tom Blake once said "nature is god"
Wouldn't hurt to learn (and do some more walking)
Looks like the article says 2 inch by 2 inch post Sherlock.
Yes, there are thousands of miles of US coastline. Most of them overdeveloped, over lighted, over run with people, and predators that are attracted by people like feral cats, fox, racoons, unleashed dogs, etc. If they were suitable for bird nesting, piping plovers would not be rare. Species that have had their habitat altered by us, if they are habitat specific (not a generalist like a racoon) then they tend to do poorly. Since we have put them in this situation we (and the NPS by their mandate) have an obligation to manage for them.
I am glad there are still a few places that are at least partially wild and that wildlife that plays a role that you may not understand is not wiped out simply because you think it holds no value.
And yes I fish. And yes I have taken my 4x4 out on the beach before. I don't have a great deal of money to pay for the upkeep so usually I pack light and walk. It is amazing how far you can walk on a flat beach when you are not carrying 2 cases of beer, a grill, and 200 lbs. of beach gear. And I can read a sign and respect that I don't need to drive or walk every inch of beach and it is n
Total Crap
This is such an absurd consession to the freaks from the left coast trying to ruin our east coast traditions. What crap. It's like LOSE - LOSE for fishermen, surfers and beach combers.
I like to consider myself an environmentalist & conservationist, even before it was cool, but one thing that attracted me to conservatism was exploration, especially in my truck. Go back to the redwood forest you freaks.
and who's to say that this
and who's to say that this was not done by one of the "bird savers" so that the area would be further blocked off. sounds like a bad rule. it just invites corruption.
Nesting Birds on Ocracoke
Since people have destroyed most of the beaches, it would seem a good thing to give our declining wildlife some space. Cars and trucks should not be on the beach. Maybe some of these out of shape good ole boys should try walking a few steps, if they can.
OPPS forgot, this is funny!
Quote from the article, "The 2-foot by 2-foot wooden posts were broken off at the ground, the statement said, and vehicle tracks were evident at three of them. No footprints were found." It wouldn't be too hard to find a trunk that ran over a TWO FOOT by TWO FOOT wooden post. Either it's an armored truck, a tank or a completely total wreck and still sitting next to the post.
Ridiculous
There are how many thousands of miles of shore line for the birds to mate? Yet there seems to be a need to stop mankind from having use of any of the beach. Why not just tear down the bridges and let the birds have the whole OBX? It's a sad case of total overkill on the part of the tree-huggers. My family vacationed every year in OBX for at least two weeks and numerous weekends until last year. Our vacations were spent in Florida and South Carolina last year. We'll likely not go back to OBX anymore thanks to all the closed beaches. Think of how many other paying customers will not be going to OBX to spend their vacation, money and providing the state and local governments with loads of tax dollars. All for what? Maybe a hundred birds? The tree-huggers will continue to have complaints about everything that brings joy or fun to normal people. They protest drilling for oil and gas, they protest windfarms, they protest woodburning, they protest logging, they protest eating animals, they protest eating plants, they protest climate change (which by the way, is NOT caused by man). Protest THIS!
Wecome to the USSR
What county are we living in? This Draconian consent decree, approved by the US Federal Courts, punishes the innocent for the transgressions of the lawbreakers.
Some drunk yahoo tears down the bird barriers and we ALL are punished by losing more public beach access. Or perhaps some environment militant wanting to close down more of our public beach perpetrated this act. Who knows.
But I do know I have never heard of, until now, a law that is designed to penalize the innocent, law-abiding public for the crimes committed by individuals over which we have no control.
Welcome to the USSR.