Please, Please, Please HELP HATTERAS

[Sea Frog]

I am also and avid surf fisherman. This hits me like a ton of bricks. I don't ask for much, but would everyone please help out and contact your senators etc. if you live in NC.

http://www.reddrumtackle.com/forums/...p?postid=73294

and the story on WRAL

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/1605849/

[Sea Frog]

Also, there is a poll at the end of the WRAL link...PLEASE SAY NO when taking the poll.

[Bert Rodgers]

Sea Frog, I understand your position but I must ask, do you feel that the beach and park can sustain that volumn of traffic day in and day out without serious damage to what you love?

Bert

[Sea Frog]

Sea Frog, I understand your position but I must ask, do you feel that the beach and park can sustain that volumn of traffic day in and day out without serious damage to what you love?

Bert

Of course I don't want to see damage to the place I love so much, I wouldn't answer any other way. Irresponsible behavior should not be tollerated. There is enforcement to prevent most of this type of behavior as evident by the case mentioned above being brought in the first place. Don't know if you have ever fished the point as hatteras, but to get there it would be about a 2 mile walk through sand with a rod, reel, large cooler, tackle box, and chair without ORV access. Most people don't realize that it is not the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, it is the Cape Hatteras National RECREATIONAL Seashore. The legislation signed by Nixon was clear to make provisions for ORV access. What we have in this case is an activist Judge making their own interpretation of the law. This my friends is a war between bird watchers and fishermen plain and simple with the ultimate goal being the removal of all man made impact to the seashore (yes this means houses and business also) Just like was done with the Cape Lookout National Seashore years ago when the US Govn't walked in and demolished the island to return it to it's natural state (of course they left the lighthouse).

Plain and simple, I have grown up driving on the beach responsibly and I will not stop. Civil disobedience will be in order. That is how strongly I feel.

[JD5652]

Sea Frog-

From what I read,it sounds like there's not much to worry about in the immediate future since the law is not being enforced. Also, it does sound like a LOT of political BS. If "some" type of regulations were enacted that allowed responsible ORV use of the area, then the feds may be satisfied.

Just my $0.02.

[Bert Rodgers]

Please don't misunderstand my post. It was a question not an opinion.
Another question, does Hatteras require a beach permit for vehicles or can you just drive in. It may sound like a PIA but Assateague in MD and VA as well as Fenwick in DE have done it for years and it could cut down on the #s.

Bert

[Reel Fanatic]

I am almost always against anything that the ultra left wing liberals in the media get behind. This is one of them. The damn turtles have protection up and down the coast with minimum $5,000 fines if you so much as fart in the direction of the nest. If their very existence is jeopardised by the driving on that relatively short little strip of land, then maybe it's time for the turtles to go the way of the Dodo bird. There are bird sanctuaries up and down the coastlines of the Carolinas and Virginia as well as points north and south with vast areas of protection along the outer banks. If keeping that short little expanse of beach open is going to catapult the little piping plover into non-existence then maybe there was something wrong with their ability to adapt anyway. Hell, we have woodduck houses and have constructed nesting areas in marshes and swamps to create safe havens for ducks to do the wild thing (so we can eventually shoot them). Maybe these whiny little dictators should consider buying a hammer and some nails and building some nesting sites for these little birds to go get it on. They seem to like watching the wild things have sex anyway...probably because the wild animals aren't as hairy as their leftwing human counterparts.

Now I don't condone any kind of wreckless behavior from anyone especially when the safety of others comes into the equation but it sounds as if they are using this guy as a scapegoat in order to ram through something that they had intended to do all along. They just needed a fall guy to get the ball rolling. I have driven that beach before and it doesn't take thousands of vehicles driving the beach to create deep ruts. When you are straddling the ruts trying to prevent from bottoming out, your vehicle can get kind of squirrely on you. Plus, with the sand being as soft as it is, you have to let air out of your tires and drive at a steady and constant rate of speed or else you are screwed! It only takes a handfull of vehicles traveling the same path in soft sand. Amazingly enough though, just like an etch-a-sketch, those ruts are virtually un-noticeable the next morning after the tide has given the beach a shake down. It's amazing how sand does that isn't it.

You have to watch these leftist whackos because they aren't satisfied unless they have control of everything and you have control of nothing. They know best how to preserve and protect the environment. They know how to best spend your money. They know best how you should live your life. They don't stop at anything. I am sure they have had nothing to say about the kite surfers and wind surfers trecking through the dunes in their Subarus and VW mini-buses to go ripping it through the turtle grass and salt marshes at 30miles an hour on a good windy day. Don't they know that the marshes and shallow water areas are an extremely fragile habitat for the lowly snails and crabs that are probably on the brink of disaster as a direct result of the careless and thoughtless existence of the human race???! Please!

Sea Frogg- I am with you on this one. I smell a rat.

[Sea Frog]

Please don't misunderstand my post. It was a question not an opinion.
Another question, does Hatteras require a beach permit for vehicles or can you just drive in. It may sound like a PIA but Assateague in MD and VA as well as Fenwick in DE have done it for years and it could cut down on the #s.

Bert

No misunderstanding, I know it was a question I'm not offended or anything like that. It was a good question. Right now on the seashore they do not require permits. However, there are clearly marked areas where vehicles may not cross. It is pretty idiot proof unless you are a bird watcher trying to get just a little closer to that piping plover. I would not mind needing a free permit to use the beach for ORV access. All you had to do was apply online and the permit was mailed to you.

[costaricasportfishing]

This is nothing new. They have been talking about this forever. And they will keep talking forever. DO NOT BLAME SURFERS for this!!! I'm sick of people pointing the finger at surfers!! This whole mess is just a bunch of BS created by people that have nothing else to do. The beach at Hatteras is more changed and hurt by people building where they shouldn't. You can't beat mother nature. She takes back the beach every season birds or no birds. 1 big storm and all the ruts are gone as are the bird nest and turtle nests. Without a doubt LOCALS will not buy any permit to drive on the beach. It ain't easy living on the Island. Driving on the beach is part of living there.

Dave

[Sea Frog]

This is nothing new. They have been talking about this forever. And they will keep talking forever. DO NOT BLAME SURFERS for this!!! I'm sick of people pointing the finger at surfers!! This whole mess is just a bunch of BS created by people that have nothing else to do. The beach at Hatteras is more changed and hurt by people building where they shouldn't. You can't beat mother nature. She takes back the beach every season birds or no birds. 1 big storm and all the ruts are gone as are the bird nest and turtle nests. Without a doubt LOCALS will not buy any permit to drive on the beach. It ain't easy living on the Island. Driving on the beach is part of living there.

Dave

I don't think that Fanatic meant to blame the surfers. He was just pointing out that this attack has been leveled at the good ole' red neck surf fisherman...of which I am one. The surfers, bird watchers, and those that are using the beach for things other than fishing always seem to be left out of the attack. Probably b/c using the ocean to swim with the fishes is much better than putting a cold hard piece of steel through thier poor little jaw...after all, what did they do to us. (That was sarcasm by the way)