Race Pt Beach - Piping Plover/ORV Access Update

[fishonnelsons]

FYI - I just sent this out to my "Plover" distribution list. The Seashore has published it's "Enviromental Assessment" of their proposals to open up some more of the Race Pt area beaches should a "near total closure" occur due to Plover nesting, and they have agreed to go ahead with it.

However, this opens up another public input period. It's very important that as many e-mails get sent in supporting this, even though we may feel and even say that it's not nearly good enough. Reason being is that if we don't say anything, and the Seashore gets a few hundred e-mails, letters etc opposing this action from other groups, then the Seashore will be within it's rights to say "we asked the public, the only input we got was against our proposal, and therefore we will not proceed with it".

This just came out today, on the attached link, http://parkplanning.nps.gov , down the bottom of the page, "Documents Ready for Comment"



It’s 49 pages long, but the bottom line is they are still looking to open up a “few” additional area’s if Piping Plover closures result in “less than ½ mile of beach being open to ORV users”.



This starts the public comment period, and you can actually e-mail your comment to them right on that attached link. There will also be another public meeting, Sat., March 3rd, at the Seashore for comment. Remember – all feedback helps. If we/you don’t say anything, and hundreds of people who are against the ORV’s send e-mails in, the Seashore can take that to mean that the public doesn’t want to make any compromises and can essentially back away from the proposal.



My personal/business comment is that although it is a good thing the Seashore is trying to implement some actions should there be "near-total" closures, and thank you for that, I believe a whole lot more could be done without endangering the birds. Specifically, why wait until 7.5 of the 8 miles of beaches are closed before opening up some of the new areas - as soon as any of the 8 miles are opened up they should open up the new area's - maintain as much of the status quo as possible.



Please log onto that website and forward your comments, at the minimum it demonstrates that a lot of people are very much interested in this issue.

[chris L]

sent

baby steps are better than going backwards or no steps at all

[MAC]

done

[fishonnelsons]

Thanks guys, it just takes a few minutes but it does help alot.

[gone fishin]

Done!

[Slipknot]

"
My personal/business comment is that although it is a good thing the Seashore is trying to implement some actions should there be "near-total" closures, and thank you for that, I believe a whole lot more could be done without endangering the birds. Specifically, why wait until 7.5 of the 8 miles of beaches are closed before opening up some of the new areas - as soon as any of the 8 miles are opened up they should open up the new area's - maintain as much of the status quo as possible."

did you mean - as soon as any of the 8 miles are CLOSED, they should open.......... ? not opened?

I'll send them an email

thanks

[tattoobob]

Rich, I know it maybe asking alot But I think that alot more people will submit an email if you compose a brief summery of what should be put into the email. 49 pages is alot of reading

[saltfly]

I also recieved "packet" in the mail today.I believe anyone who attended the "hearing"last december and signed in,will recieve a packet.If anyone has a fax machine and would like a copy I'd be more than happy to send you one.just send a pm.also there is another hearing MARCH 3RD at10AM at the provincelands visitors center.

[fishonnelsons]

Thanks Slip, I did mean as soon as any of the 8 miles are CLOSED.

That's what happens when you type something when your blood is boiling.

[fishonnelsons]

Agreed Tat - the 49 pages is alot and really just alot of bureacracy rambling.

Bottom line your comments/feedback should hit the following points -
- who you are and how often you go to the beaches and why you go there
- agreement that the plovers are "protected" and actions should be taken to ensure their survival, HOWEVER,
- actions should be taken to ensure people, taxpayers, etc can enjoy the National Seashore in the ORV fashion
- appreciate the fact the Seashore is trying to address a difficult situation, BUT
- think out of the box, open the alternate routes, train volunteer plover watchers, etc etc - try some different things, if it doesn't work try something else.
- how much money you contribute to the local economy, in general terms
- if it continues the way it is going, you have less incentive to come back, hurting the local economy as well as the Parks revenue stream.

Just some broad points
-
-

[Swimmer]

Went there, did that.

[RickBomba]

Comment sent

[bassmaster]

please comment on this
thanks

[Karl F]

Read.. (Pages 6, 7, 8, brought back tons of bad memories)

Sent a wordy comment.. hope they read the whole thing.

[Maloney]

Comment sent.
Liked page 20.

[2na]

Important to keep this one going, guys. Everyone who fishes the Race and back beach, lets keep bumping this one up. Please - send a comment to the Seashore so that they know that we haven't forgotten about them. There is strength in the numbers.

[Slipknot]

This Sat. at 10 AM is the public hearing on this

be there and support access

thanks

[2na]

Just a reminder that today is the last day to get your comments in regarding this important beach access issue. A quick note is all that is needed. Copy & paste the following, and work off of it:

Originally Posted by fishonnelsons

Bottom line your comments/feedback should hit the following points -
- who you are and how often you go to the beaches and why you go there
- agreement that the plovers are "protected" and actions should be taken to ensure their survival, HOWEVER,
- actions should be taken to ensure people, taxpayers, etc can enjoy the National Seashore in the ORV fashion
- appreciate the fact the Seashore is trying to address a difficult situation, BUT
- think out of the box, open the alternate routes, train volunteer plover watchers, etc etc - try some different things, if it doesn't work try something else.
- how much money you contribute to the local economy, in general terms
- if it continues the way it is going, you have less incentive to come back, hurting the local economy as well as the Parks revenue stream.
-

Thanks to everyone who has sent the Seashore their comments.

To send an email to them - http://parkplanning.nps.gov/commentF...cumentId=18087 - is the online form

[JohnR]

Mike - thanks for the reminder!!!!!!

Done!

[2na]

Our friends down south at Cape Hatteras need our help too. Here is the online comment form link to send a comment by midnight tonight Friday March 16-

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/commentF...cumentId=17542

It is important to all of you who want access to beach, whether it is the Cape Cod National Seashore or some other stretch of beach, it is time to stand up and be counted - if you think that 'someone else' will do it for you, you are fooling yourself. You can bet that the people who don't want us on the beach, because they don't want to see our trucks, because they don't want us being 'cruel' to fish, or whatever, you can bet that their comments have been sent. We need to band together and make our voices heard, or they are going to get you off of your beach. Get off your butt and send something.

Here is what I sent regarding Cape Hatteras:

My name is Michael Tribuna, and I am writing to you concerning the issue of ORV access to the Cape Hatteras National Recreational Seashore. It is important that endangered species be protected and reasonable efforts should be made to ensure the survival of any endangered species; however, it is also important that the taxpayers (and future generation of taxpayers) should also continue to have access to the national treasure that is our nation’s beaches and be able to experience them firsthand, rather than seeing them on an old documentary or reading about them in a book. I am a fisherman, and it has been my experience that fishermen are some of the most conscientious people who use the beach. For instance, I myself have many times picked up sea borne refuse, and on a National Seashore further north I have reported the presence of, and collected, cold stunned endangered Kemp's Ridley turtles, among other turtles, for rescue, and on many instances I have called the Ranger Station to report dangerous conditions and situations such as beached boats. As primary users, fishermen such as myself are the eyes and ears of the Seashore. In addition, fishermen contribute a great deal to the local economies and the history, legends and lore of the beach and the surrounding communities. For reasons such as these, it is important that any proposed management plan includes provisions that make continued ORV access a high priority.

The national seashore that I frequent the most, the Cape Cod National Seashore, is experiencing major problems with attempts at resource management. Efforts to protect bird species have been successful but extremely slow paced. This has led to the exclusion of ORV’s from the beach for large portions of the summer months; a situation, which is projected to continue into the foreseeable future and, it appears, far beyond. I appreciate the fact that the Cape Hatteras National Recreational Seashore is trying to address a difficult situation, but a solution such as restricting or prohibiting access of ORV’s would be draconian in nature. I hope that, if it comes to it, the Cape Hatteras National Recreational Seashore sees to it that alternate methods of protecting the endangered species of the Seashore are devised and implemented, even on a trial or experimental basis, because it is obvious that the methods used by the Cape Cod National Seashore place far to high a burden on the ORV community. Simply closing beach to ORV’s and not reducing the predation that cause the vast, vast majority of mortality of endangered species, or not providing alternate means of ORV access to unaffected beach, is simply not an acceptable solution.

I hope to one day be able to visit the Cape Hatteras National Recreational Seashore – it has been something I have been planning to do for a few years now. Please see to it that when I am able to do so, I will be able to have ORV access to the Seashore, and be able to contribute to the local economy and the Parks Service budget by visiting.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

[saltfly]

Mikey,mine just went out.

[2na]

I'm working on mine. Did you send to Hatteras too??

[saltfly]

Yes,I did that about 10 days ago.there seems to be alot of apathy down that way.I hope i'm wrong.I was down there in the 70s when I was stationed in Norfolk Va. back then you could motor anywhere.Some of the biggest rips along the beach that I've ever seen.

[2na]

Here's mine -


I am writing to you concerning the issue of ORV access to the Cape Cod National Recreational Seashore. It is important that endangered species be protected and reasonable efforts should be made to ensure the survival of any endangered species; however, it is also important that the taxpayers (and future generation of taxpayers) should also continue to have access to the national treasures that are our nation’s beaches and be able to experience them firsthand, rather than seeing them on an old documentary or reading about them in a book. I am a Truro homeowner, a Truro small business owner, and a fisherman, but first and foremost what brought me to the Seashore and to call Truro my home is love of the beach and the culture of the beach community that exists thereon. It has been my experience that fishermen and the majority of the ORV beach community are some of the most conscientious people who use the beach. For instance, I myself have many times picked up sea borne refuse, I have reported the presence of, and collected for rescue, cold stunned endangered Kemp's Ridley turtles, among other turtles, and on many instances I have called the Ranger Station to report dangerous conditions and situations such as distressed watercraft. As primary users, fishermen such as myself are the eyes and ears of the Seashore. Fishermen contribute a great deal to the local economies and the history, legends and lore of the beach and the surrounding communities. For reasons such as these, it is important that any proposed management plan includes provisions that make continued ORV access, and expansion thereof, a high priority. As a homeowner with a small local business, over the last two summers I have seen a marked reduction in the number of people who are coming to Truro for their summer vacation. One group of people who were rented property last summer (2006) told me this week that they would not come back because of the lack of any ORV beach access. My reservations for the upcoming summer are slow. Hotels have high vacancies and most restaurants have no wait and empty tables, something that I have not witnessed since the early 1990’s. The once vibrant local economy, community revenue streams, Seashore revenues – all of these are in danger of recession. This can all be attributed to the loss of beach access during the summer months.

The Cape Cod National Seashore is experiencing major problems with attempts at resource management. Efforts to protect bird species have been successful but extremely slow paced. These efforts have led to the exclusion of ORV’s from the beach for large portions of the summer months; a situation, which is projected to continue into the foreseeable future and, it appears, far beyond. I appreciate the fact that the Seashore is attempting to address a difficult situation; however, the efforts of the Seashore fall far too short and are not acceptable. These efforts take little or no consideration as to the plight of the beach community, the same beach community that funds a large percentage of the budget to run the Cape Cod National Seashore. No other beach user group has been imposed upon to shoulder the burden of resource management as the ORV users have been imposed upon. At the hearings it is clear that no other beach user groups are to be affected or asked to shoulder part of the burden. Open up the trail know as #8? Why, that might affect the dune shack community. Expand the hours of access to Highland Light beach? Why, that might affect existing beach user groups. Highland Light beach is just minutes from my home, and I am often the last one off it in the morning, and the first one on it at night. By the measure of the amount of footprints on the beach, very few people use that beach more than 100 yards or so from the parking area. It is unconscionable that the low use density stretch of beach of a mile plus length is not made available for ORV access when a large portion of the rest of the beach is closed. It is apparent that the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many, and that other user groups will not be asked to share space with ORV users.

Three years ago, demand for ORV permits was so great that over 1000 vehicles cued up for a sticker on the first day permits were available. The desire of citizen taxpayers for access to the resource is vividly demonstrated there. The last two summers demand for permits has decreased markedly. This is not because people do not want to use the resource, but because they are being denied access to it. Just as the Seashore did not have the vision to see the value of the dune shacks history and destroyed them once vacant, the Seashore now does not see that it is destroying a once vibrant and healthy local economy and beach community because the usual and customary access to the beach is being denied. Management methods used by the Cape Cod National Seashore place far to high a burden on the ORV community without asking any sacrifice of any other user groups.

Something must be attempted to break away from the stagnant policies and practices that are and causing the decline of both the local economy and the beach community. Simply closing beach to ORV’s and not reducing the predation that cause the vast, vast majority of mortality of endangered species, or not providing alternate means of ORV access to unaffected beach, is not an acceptable solution. Alternate methods of protecting the endangered species of the Seashore must be envisioned, devised and/or implemented, even on a trial or experimental basis.

At these hearings over the last year I have heard many creative suggestions from the audience, and the one common thread in the Seashore’s response is that they all contain the word “Can’t”. It is time to turn the culture of the administration of the Cape Cod National Seashore from one that “Can’t” to one that Can.


Thank you for your time and consideration.

[capecodder]

PT,
Great letter. Let's hope they listen. Sent mine as well.

[fishonnelsons]

It's sent Mike

[Flaptail]

Originally Posted by ptmike

Here's mine -


I am writing to you concerning the issue of ORV access to the Cape Cod National Recreational Seashore. It is important that endangered species be protected and reasonable efforts should be made to ensure the survival of any endangered species; however, it is also important that the taxpayers (and future generation of taxpayers) should also continue to have access to the national treasures that are our nation’s beaches and be able to experience them firsthand, rather than seeing them on an old documentary or reading about them in a book. I am a Truro homeowner, a Truro small business owner, and a fisherman, but first and foremost what brought me to the Seashore and to call Truro my home is love of the beach and the culture of the beach community that exists thereon. It has been my experience that fishermen and the majority of the ORV beach community are some of the most conscientious people who use the beach. For instance, I myself have many times picked up sea borne refuse, I have reported the presence of, and collected for rescue, cold stunned endangered Kemp's Ridley turtles, among other turtles, and on many instances I have called the Ranger Station to report dangerous conditions and situations such as distressed watercraft. As primary users, fishermen such as myself are the eyes and ears of the Seashore. Fishermen contribute a great deal to the local economies and the history, legends and lore of the beach and the surrounding communities. For reasons such as these, it is important that any proposed management plan includes provisions that make continued ORV access, and expansion thereof, a high priority. As a homeowner with a small local business, over the last two summers I have seen a marked reduction in the number of people who are coming to Truro for their summer vacation. One group of people who were rented property last summer (2006) told me this week that they would not come back because of the lack of any ORV beach access. My reservations for the upcoming summer are slow. Hotels have high vacancies and most restaurants have no wait and empty tables, something that I have not witnessed since the early 1990’s. The once vibrant local economy, community revenue streams, Seashore revenues – all of these are in danger of recession. This can all be attributed to the loss of beach access during the summer months.

The Cape Cod National Seashore is experiencing major problems with attempts at resource management. Efforts to protect bird species have been successful but extremely slow paced. These efforts have led to the exclusion of ORV’s from the beach for large portions of the summer months; a situation, which is projected to continue into the foreseeable future and, it appears, far beyond. I appreciate the fact that the Seashore is attempting to address a difficult situation; however, the efforts of the Seashore fall far too short and are not acceptable. These efforts take little or no consideration as to the plight of the beach community, the same beach community that funds a large percentage of the budget to run the Cape Cod National Seashore. No other beach user group has been imposed upon to shoulder the burden of resource management as the ORV users have been imposed upon. At the hearings it is clear that no other beach user groups are to be affected or asked to shoulder part of the burden. Open up the trail know as #8? Why, that might affect the dune shack community. Expand the hours of access to Highland Light beach? Why, that might affect existing beach user groups. Highland Light beach is just minutes from my home, and I am often the last one off it in the morning, and the first one on it at night. By the measure of the amount of footprints on the beach, very few people use that beach more than 100 yards or so from the parking area. It is unconscionable that the low use density stretch of beach of a mile plus length is not made available for ORV access when a large portion of the rest of the beach is closed. It is apparent that the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many, and that other user groups will not be asked to share space with ORV users.

Three years ago, demand for ORV permits was so great that over 1000 vehicles cued up for a sticker on the first day permits were available. The desire of citizen taxpayers for access to the resource is vividly demonstrated there. The last two summers demand for permits has decreased markedly. This is not because people do not want to use the resource, but because they are being denied access to it. Just as the Seashore did not have the vision to see the value of the dune shacks history and destroyed them once vacant, the Seashore now does not see that it is destroying a once vibrant and healthy local economy and beach community because the usual and customary access to the beach is being denied. Management methods used by the Cape Cod National Seashore place far to high a burden on the ORV community without asking any sacrifice of any other user groups.

Something must be attempted to break away from the stagnant policies and practices that are and causing the decline of both the local economy and the beach community. Simply closing beach to ORV’s and not reducing the predation that cause the vast, vast majority of mortality of endangered species, or not providing alternate means of ORV access to unaffected beach, is not an acceptable solution. Alternate methods of protecting the endangered species of the Seashore must be envisioned, devised and/or implemented, even on a trial or experimental basis.

At these hearings over the last year I have heard many creative suggestions from the audience, and the one common thread in the Seashore’s response is that they all contain the word “Can’t”. It is time to turn the culture of the administration of the Cape Cod National Seashore from one that “Can’t” to one that Can.


Thank you for your time and consideration.

Mike, nicely done. I sent mine a while back but yours is way nicer than mine I am afraid. I can't help but be bitter over what we lost and showed that. Maybe too much emotion, file it under "oh well".

Mine is nasty, I see too much to be all that hopefull. The MBBA and others are fighting but where they pay for legal representation the government has them on it's payroll. We will be lucky to get what was proposed but in actuality, they only gave us what we had anyway all along, just changed times and dates of use. Also, and here come the arrows screaming at my head, I don't believe a 30 or 40 foot luxury motor home is actually a self contained oversand vehicle and see them as a blight on the beach and a nusciance more than anything. A real self contained vehicle has a 4x4 truck under it with no master bedroom suite.

I hope, but really have no sincere feelings that it will be any betterfor it, that the comments are read.

[tattoobob]

Originally Posted by Flaptail

I don't believe a 30 or 40 foot luxury motor home is actually a self contained oversand vehicle and see them as a blight on the beach and a nusciance more than anything. A real self contained vehicle has a 4x4 truck under it with no master bedroom suite.

Amen to that

[Karl F]

My one time comment on this is:

Division Amongst the user groups, Only Strengthens the United Front, that is trying to close it to ALL.

To Steal a line from old Abe Lincoln.. United We Stand.. Divided We Fall.

Peace.. and---------> OUT.

[Backbeach Jake]

Karl, I hear you there. That's the current method in controlling the masses these days. Polarize them politically. If you watch for it, it's as obvious as fireworks. We MUST stay united or we all lose. There'll be no campers or ORVs.