MEDIA ADVISORY

Derb Carter of the Southern Environmental Law Center is scheduled to testify on March 14 before the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation in the U.S. House of Representatives regarding H.R. 819 that would overturn the National Park Service’s management of beach driving at Cape Hatteras National Seashore where millions of people enjoy the beach each year and rare sea turtles and shorebirds nest on the beach.

Under the beach driving management plan, Hatteras Island enjoyed record-breaking tourism in April, June, July, and September of 2012 as reported by the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau; and sea turtle nests during the 2012 nesting season also reached a record-breaking high of 222 nests according to the National Park Service. House Bill 819 would overturn the balanced plan created by public process that designates miles of beaches within the national seashore as available to off-road vehicles while protecting the safety of pedestrians and beach-nesting wildlife, increasing visitation to the seashore, and increasing revenue from local tourism despite the recession.

A companion bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senators Burr (R-NC) and Hagan (D-NC).

WHAT:  Hearing on House Bill 819 before the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation, Committee on Natural Resources, U.S. House of Representatives.

WHO:  Derb Carter, senior attorney and director, North Carolina Office, Southern Environmental Law Center (copies of his testimony will be public at the time of the hearing)

WHEN:  Thursday, March 14, 2013 at 10 a.m. EDT

WHERE:  Room 1334, Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C.