Save Hatteras and Ocracoke Island

Ocaracoke Fan wrote:

I fail to see where there is evidence that the decline in bird numbers is directly related to driving on the beach.
Without tracing each individual and locating their new nesting site or finding their corpse, how can the knee jerk reaction of "it's the driving on the beach" be determined for causing the decline.
My family & I went to Ocracoke in 2006 and there was plenty of park ranger control over where you could drive on the southern point at that time. There were rangers on the beach every day that we were there, either watching the nesting sites, patrolling the beach or just having a presence. I think this was before the lawsuit was served and I would in no way call this inaction on their part! Not to mention there were plainly marked areas that you were obviously not supposed to drive.
Any living thing that depends on the necessities of life being provided by nature is prone to decline due to a huge array of catalysts and hurdles. Nature is not a nurturing, caring mother all the time. Look at the natural disasters over the last 9 years. Hurricanes could easily have helped wipe out migratory species in a location not even close to the OBX and
much more throughly than some drunk kids in a 4x4 could ever do. I would expect the Audobon society to have a better grasp of those influences.
I'm also curious as to the mention of the feral cat populations down there - how much time/$ has the audobon society spent looking into that possibility and other predation vs. what was needed to bring about this highly contentious lawsuit?

Thank god someone else sees the truth! I think maybe the audobon society should sue the ferral cats...they might be to blame for the decline in the bird population! They just happen to be below cats on the food chain!

A ghost town sounds nice..actually thats why I own a home on the beach in Buxton and not in the very crowded, store front laden areas like Kitty Hawk....nice peaceful buxton where one can do his own thing. Have a fire on the beach if you wish, drive down to the Cape and drop a line if you wish...fewer restrictions..less government....easy living....
Ahhhhh isn't that nice?

September 20, 2008
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Noon - Midnight OUTDOOR CONCERT BUXTON, N.C.
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Everyone's invited.......

I'm a visitor from Philly, PA. I've visited Ocracoke and the rest of the banks since before they put out those stupid OBX bumper stickers. The truth will come out. The special interests will lose in the long run because they used bad science and no form of change management from what I can see. They pissed off a lot of people. I feel bad for the good folks at the NPS, who were doing an excellent job. Nothing like doing something for a living for many years, being a subject matter expert and then having someone parachute in to tell you how bad your doing. It's a shame they wouldn't have played more of a partnership role with the NPS. It might have done more good.

My family has been going to Hatteras and Ocracoke for over 20 years. The best part is being able to drive on the beach to get to spots where other people aren't right up on you. South Point on Ocracoke does seem like the end of the world and the most beautiful view and I would hate to think of that being taken away from the locals. I have never seen anyone abuse the beach except for some idoits walking thru the turtle closures. Most all people drive slower than the 25 mph speed limit just enjoying the views of the waves and watching out for the birds. Actually the birds seem to like to sit in the tracks from the tires that block the wind and sand off of them at times. Not to metion that after high tide most of those tracks are gone anyway and you can't even tell that there was a car out there. I hope our driving rights will not be taken away. What's wrong with using Portsmouth Island as a wild life study area? Last year, we were in a tackle store and heard of a Ranger shooting a fox out on the beach at Hatteras just because it was acting funny. Well turned out that she was just trying to vear the Ranger in the other direction to protect her babies that were close by and then all of them had to be killed too. Is that fair? Oh well. I love OBX!

I agree with you about Ocracoke's south point. A matter of fact that is where I drove out to with my Jeep in '97 to propose to my wife. Gee, it would kind of stink if couldn't go back there and revisit the memory.

I wish my boyfriend would do the same thing when we come down there in September. That would be the perfect spot! Great Job!

Just came back from staying on Hatteras.(great home, only $1,100.00 by the way, and not a mansion either!)

Have been vacationing here for past eight years, and I have NEVER seen the trash on the beaches and Hwy 12 as bad as it was this year.Coincidence that I got behind cars with NJ plates not once, but three times, in different places on OBX, and witnessed them throwing trash from vehicle.

Also came upon a group of very rude people on Hatteras beach who were proudly from NY, and had "trashed" the beach!

Now, not saying everyone is "trashy" from the north, but a few bad apples tends to spoil the barrel......... I know for a fact that NJ and NY beaches have been closed more than once for high contamanents, medical waste, and high toxic levels in water. Put two and two together....

Can understand to some extent wanting to "save the beaches", but also feel that education and common sense goes a long way!

How about more "hands on" promotion of the wildlife and natural habitats, and working as a community to preserve not only the beaches, but a way of life, and a land with a long rich history!

I have never seen a turtle, and would gladly volunteer to help out, but do not know where to go or what to do. I have never seen these birds that they are trying to save, wouldn't know what one looked like if it bit me! Would love to report one if I saw it, but no info on that either!

I had a stack of papers that are strewn all over OBX promoting all that goes on on the Outer Banks, but not one mentioned anything about keeping our beaches clean, reporting abuse, or watching out for these endangered animals. If everyone would stop bickering, and work together, maybe, just maybe, we could save the Outer Banks, animals, people, businesses and all!

A few points here:
1. The ancestors on the island gave the land to the NPS with a promise for full access to the beaches (which were the only "road" back then). That's walking, fishing, driving, horseback riding, etc. Full access. That's not happening.

2. Has an independent group performed a thorough study on the issues of wildlife breeding, populations, migratory habits? No. Turtles and birds are mobile. They may be moving away from such areas (as most animals do, when anything isn't quite right for setting up "house"). In fact, there are other barrier and dredge islands with many of these bird populations doing very well, yet they are not counted in the NPS counts, as they are not NPS lands. Has anyone checked to see if these birds simply shifted their breeding grounds?

3. Has anyone studied the economic impact on the islanders? This is a common practice in such circumstances (for parklands and otherwise). It is unwise to base beach closures on weak and very questionable data.

4. And, as mentioned by another person here, where is it proven (even with the suspect data) that ORV has this alleged negative impact? Most ORVers are very enviro-friendly and respect all the protected areas.

Don't be fooled by bad data or sources with suspect goals.