[derf]

i know it not up there but ; it's the same issue at cape hatteras .
obpa , ncbba , chapa and others fought this fight about 'critical wintering habibat' and won . now it's back again ....
they close the beaches in the summer ; now they want to do it in the winter .
derf

Proposal would close parts of Outer Banks seashore to help threatened bird
By CATHERINE KOZAK, The Virginian-Pilot
© June 19, 2006
Last updated: 10:26 PM


The piping plover, the little sand-colored bird that has incited big controversy on the Outer Banks, is again the subject of a proposed government rule that could result in closures of large swaths of Cape Hatteras National Seashore for critical wintering habitat.

The proposal revamps the 2001 rule that designated 3,600 acres of the national seashore as essential to the recovery of the species. That designation was thrown out by a federal judge in November 2004 after a consortium of recreational beach-user groups challenged the size of the protected area and the economic effects of beach closures.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service posted an amended designation in the Federal Register on June 12 .

John Couch, president of the Outer Banks Preservation Association, a group that promotes open access to the beach, said it is still unclear how the new proposal could affect beach driving and other beach uses.

As a member of the Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance, the association was a plaintiff in the 2003 lawsuit. The alliance also included Dare and Hyde counties, the Cape Lookout Mobile Sportsfishermen, the Cape Hatteras Anglers Club, the North Carolina Beach Buggy Association, United Mobile Sportsfishermen, the Ocracoke Civic Association and the North Carolina Shore and Beach Preservation Association.

“We need to look it over – the legal part of it – and make some decision,” Couch said Friday. “It’s a little early yet.”

The plaintiff’s attorney has not had the opportunity to advise the group on its next step, he said, but the alliance is “all fired up” about some parts of the revived rule.

“It seems at first glance that the area is bigger than it was last time,” he said. “Just as a layman, I’m questioning the size of it.”

But Sidney Maddock, field technician for Audubon North Carolina, said he is concerned because the proposal does not include the north part of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge , which had been included in the previous designation.

Part of his worry is centered on the ongoing planning for the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge replacement project , which is studying an alternative that would bypass Pea Island, and another that would include maintenance of the road through Pea Island.

“Depending on what bridge alignment is picked, you’ll have an alignment that allows restoration of the refuge,” Maddock said, “or you’ll have an alignment that’s picked that will harm the refuge … So there’s a big question mark there.”

Maddock said the proposed rule also does not include some of the important state waterbird islands that serve as critical piping plover habitats.

Overall, he said, he was pleased that the rule has been proposed again. He said national seashore habitat clearly meets the criteria for designation.

“The bottom line is that this is a very important area for both migratory and wintering piping plovers,” Maddock said. “And the only reason one would expect for it not to be designated is that there was some kind of political interference in the process.”

A message left for Pete Benjamin with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was not returned Friday.

Mike Murray, the superintendent of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, said he expects the National Park Service Outer Banks Group will have the opportunity to discuss the proposal in more depth.

“We’re still evaluating it,” Murray said . “We’re not exactly sure how it will impact us.”

The park service is in the process of creating an interim strategy management plan for the piping plovers, considered threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and other protected species.

Murray said he is not sure how much say the national seashore has about the designation of the habitat within its borders. Fish and Wildlife and the National Park Service come under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

“My understanding is we would have the chance to comment on it – even though we’re the subject of it,” he said. “But ultimately, it’s Fish and Wildlife’s decision. Whether Fish gives us any more weight, I can’t tell you that.”

The 16-page proposed rule is available for review on the Internet at www.regulations.gov. For further information, contact Pete Benjamin, field supervisor, Raleigh Fish and Wildlife Office: (919) 856-4520. Comments will be accepted until Aug . 11.


Reach Catherine Kozak at (252) 441-1711 or cate.kozak@pilotonline.com.


courtesy of the Virginian Pilot