One Last Push to Save Hatteras Beach Access
 

Help Restore Reasonable Recreational Fishing Access at Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Background
Off-road vehicle (ORV) access to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreation Area (CHNSRA) in North Carolina is essential for surf fishing from the beaches, as well as many other recreational activities. However, the National Park Service (NPS) is proposing even more onerous ORV access restrictions than those currently in place along one of the east coast's premier surf fishing locations! Not only are these restrictions unduly blocking out anglers who want to enjoy the sport, but are also crippling the local economy, which is largely dependent on tourism related to sportfishing and other recreational activities in CHNSRA.

Due to a May 1, 2008 court-ordered consent decree, ORV and pedestrian access has been severely restricted throughout the majority of the CHNSRA in the name of shorebird protection, specifically the piping plover. The consent decree has been in place while the NPS develops an ORV Management Plan for the CHNSRA.

On March 5, 2010, the NPS released its ORV Draft Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), which evaluates the potential impacts of several alternatives. The NPS preferred alternative as outlined in the DEIS is the most restrictive management option to date, far exceeding any sense of balance between resource protection and public access and betraying all promises made to the public regarding recreational uses in the seashore.

What You Can Do
Urge the NPS to make significant changes to the preferred alternative in order to provide both reasonable resource protection and reasonable public access to public lands. Please visit Keep America Fishing for instructions on how to 1) officially comment on the DEIS and 2) share your views with your members of Congress. The NPS is accepting comments through May 11, 2010, so act now!

Thank you for doing your part to help to Keep America Fishing!

give it up , it is done ..
hatteras fishing as we knew it is gone forever !!
cape lookout is next then assateague island ....

Once they accomplish closure down there, it will set a precedent for them to do the same on the Race.

Thank you for the information BP, I'll start composing an email right away.

Are there any phone numbers available for people to call and share our opinions with?

If we roll over and submit like dogs, they'll continue to treat us as such.

The day I stop actively particpating in the democratic process is the day they bury me. My mother is an immigrant and I have the pleasure of being born American. To have the opportunity to have a say and to not use it is in my not so humble opinion an act of disrespect for all those that have died for this great nation, whether their death was warranted or not, they must be honored by participating in democracy.

no offense , but what does that have to do with the screwing over the nps is doing ??
what is going on is not a 'democratic' process , it is just short of nazi gestapo tactics !!
how much attention has been paid to all the letters / responses etc that have been sent ??
they are going to do whatever they want to ; no matter what we say or do !
i just got back from a week at portsmouth is ,, every 40 foot or so all the way up the beach it is posted " closed bird sanctuary" .

No offense, but I think you have it exactly backwards. Taking into account bird closings, the Race is all but closed already.....sadly the access that is left probably only has 10 years or so remaining given bird issues, erosion and the current powers that be at the park service and in DC. In Hattaras they still have many times the miles of beach access we have left on the Cape.....the issue there is that the restrictions are starting to encroach on the prime fishing locations. I fish with a big group of guys from NC who come up to fish the Cape with me a few times per year, and it is common knowlege that the precedents from the Cape are being applied to Hattaras, not vice versa.

But, none of that changes the main point of this thread, which is that they need to be fought tooth and nail in both locations.

Sent...

sent. Pile on, guys.....one day left. Numbers count...

Blitz Seeker...I am on the BOD of MA Beach Buggy and served on the Negotiated Rulemaking for Cape Hatteras. Right now the bird buffers, trespass restrictions, number of birds protected and many other rules are far more strict in Cape Hatteras than at Cape Cod National Seashore. I camped last week on Race Point in my camper and we were 500 feet from a nest. In Hatteras the buffer is 1000 meters, yes I said meters.

Your summary is dead on...we must fight them everywhere!

Responsible access and responsible wildlife protection can coexist