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!
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