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ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS SEEKING INJUNCTION TO STOP BEACH DRIVING

The following article appeared on the Island Free Press web site (http://www.islandfreepress.com) yesterday.
 
The environmental groups that have sued the National Park Service over its interim protected species plan at Cape Hatteras National Seashore will ask a federal court judge on Wednesday, Feb. 20, for a temporary injunction to stop beach driving until the lawsuit is settled.

The environmental groups that have sued the National Park Service over its interim protected species plan at Cape Hatteras National Seashore will ask a federal court judge on Wednesday, Feb. 20, for a temporary injunction to stop beach driving until the lawsuit is settled.

Members of a negotiated rulemaking committee that is working on a long-range plan to regulate ORV use on the seashore got the news Tuesday afternoon in an e-mail from Patrick Field of the Consensus Building Institute, one of the facilitators working with a committee to negotiate a long-range ORV plan.

“The plaintiffs in the lawsuit over the interim plan and those members of the Committee let us know this afternoon, Tuesday, that they plan to file a request for a preliminary injunction with the District Court tomorrow, Wednesday, February 20th.

 “Once the document is filed with the court, they will provide a copy of that (request for a) preliminary injunction to us to forward to the Committee.”

The Defenders of Wildlife and the National Audubon Society, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), filed a lawsuit against the National Park Service on Oct. 18 in federal district court in Elizabeth City over its failure to adopt regulations to manage beach driving at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
 
 The suit claims that the interim protected species management plan under which the Park Service has been operating does not do enough to protect species of shorebirds and sea turtles that nest on the seashore.

The groups also filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue over violations of the Endangered Species Act in connection with the interim management plan.

The lawsuit contends that the interim plan, which is intended to protect the birds and turtles until a long-range plan is adopted, does not go far enough.

The National Park Service is currently involved in two concurrent processes to formulate a long-range plan for ORV use on the seashore beaches.

They are:

An ORV Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The Plan/EIS will guide the management of ORV use at Cape Hatteras for the next 10 to 15 years and is required by the National Environmental Policy Act.   The first public scoping meetings were last year, and now the National Park Service has developed a list of preliminary options for ORV management. The Park Service hosted a series of public information meetings in January to answer questions about the options and will accepted public comment on the alternative options until Feb. 15.
 
A negotiated rulemaking advisory committee had its first meetings on Jan. 3 and 4 at the Avon Fire Hall.  This committee is appointed under federal law by the Secretary of the Interior to assist the Park Service in developing rules for operating ORVs on the seashore. The next meeting of the committee will be Feb. 26 and 27 in Kill Devil Hills.
 
This is obviously a very important issue for Hatteras Island residents and visitors. We will continue to keep you informed.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 20th, 2008 at 8:35 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS SEEKING INJUNCTION TO STOP BEACH DRIVING”

  1. Butch Tavers Says:
    April 3rd, 2008 at 11:31 pm

    I grew up in N. C. Spent many summers as a child visting the Outer Banks, but for 30 years our family vacations have been alternating betw Wrightsville Bch and Pawleys Isl. Last summer, to make it easier for my sister and her family who live in Wash DC, we rented a cottage on Hatteras. We were horrified by the out-of-control development. The area is full of hideous, mansionized ostentious “cottages”. And who ever thought a need for a swimming pool at the beach! I understand some of them are heated. I guess the word about global warming and it’s causes has not made it to the NC Outer Banks. And beach driving! How horrifying. Isn’t anyone able to walk anymore? And on a NATIONAL SEASHORE!!! Driving on a national treasure is like stomping on the American flag. I hope you are on the smart side of this issue. If you really do care about the seashore you’d advocate to limit, if not completely ban, driving on the beaches. Do the right thing, please.

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