Late yesterday U.S. Senators Hagan (D-NC) and Burr (R-NC) introduced a bill to overturn the National Park Service plan to manage beach driving within Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Read more in the press release.
Learn more about this case »Help protect rare, beach-nesting birds and sea turtles, and pedestrians by supporting the National Park Service's management of ORV traffic within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
After an extensive public comment period, the National Park Service released a final management plan for Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina that provides protections for both pedestrians and wildlife while still allowing responsible beach driving. The plan is a compromise that incorporates solid science and the results of a public comment process in which a majority of commenters supported stricter management of off-road vehicles. It will allow ORV use on the majority of the seashore while still protecting wildlife, providing visitors opportunities for vehicle-free experiences, and increasing access for all users.
But now a bill introduced into Congress threatens to undermine the new plan. Click here to contact your members of Congress.
The U. S. District Court for Washington, D.C. granted conservation groups' request to help defend a new National Park Service rule against a lawsuit by an ORV enthusiast group. Read more in the press release
The following is a statement from the Audubon North Carolina, Defenders of Wildlife and the Southern Environmental Law Center: “We’re disappointed that some beach driving enthusiasts quickly filed suit against beach driving rules that would protect pedestrians and nesting and young sea turtles and birds within Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Read more in the press release.
In the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the populations of nesting seabirds, shorebirds, and sea turtles have rebounded significantly (PDF)—some to record levels—thanks to three years of reasonable limits on beach driving secured by SELC and its partners. In accord with a legal agreement we reached with the National Park Service in 2008, the agency has developed a plan for managing off-road vehicle use on the seashore. Although the plan does not implement all the protections scientists have recommended, it goes a long way toward safeguarding sensitive areas of the seashore for wildlife and pedestrian use while still allowing reasonable vehicle access for activities such as surf fishing.
Our goal now is to make sure a new regulation based on that plan, to be proposed by the Park Service this summer, has clear, enforceable standards for protecting wildlife and their nesting grounds, with specific provisions for when and where people can drive off-road. The final rule is scheduled to be issued in November.
After a record-breaking year for wildlife at Cape Hatteras National Seashore and visitor occupancy in Dare County, NC, conservation groups are studying the Final Environmental Impact Statement released yesterday by the National Park Service as its latest step in the process of establishing rules for managing beach driving within the seashore. More details are in the press release.