Post by bensredyj on May 20, 2008 12:28:33 GMT -5
More N.C. beach off-limits after vandals hit again
Posted to: News North Carolina
By Catherine Kozak
The Virginian-Pilot
© May 20, 2008
For the second time in one week, a bird closure in Cape Hatteras National Seashore was vandalized, but this time it was in an area that had been accessible only by pedestrians.
Twenty fence posts were discovered broken at an American oystercatcher closure on the oceanside about four-fifths of a mile north of Buxton, National Park Service Outer Banks Group spokeswoman Cyndy Holda said Monday. Five signs were pulled up and three closure signs were taken.
Under terms of a legal agreement, the closure was automatically expanded by 50 meters, or 164 feet, to the south. Off-road vehicles have not used the narrow area for years, but the expansion now excludes people from accessing the beach.
Bare footprints came from the beach, over the dune and toward the fence line along N.C. 12, said David Carter, Hatteras Island district ranger. The prints had entered the closure, but the nest was not disturbed.
More than 1,300 feet of fencing was damaged on the west side of the dune and about 274 feet total on the north and south sides of the open beach.
Carter said he believed the vandalism happened around high tide early Friday because the water had washed over some of the prints.
There are no suspects for either act of vandalism, he said.
"When something happens in the dark of night, with nobody around," Carter said, "you can't catch them."
In vandalism at a least tern closure discovered on May 10 at South Beach in Buxton, 12 posts had been knocked down, but no one appeared to have entered the buffer zone. That closure was also automatically expanded by 50 meters.
A consent decree signed on April 30 settled a lawsuit brought in October by the Defenders of Wildlife and the National Audubon Society against the National Park Service. The Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance and Dare and Hyde counties later joined the suit, and they agreed to the settlement.
Geoffrey Gisler, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, which represents the environmental groups, said they were expecting violations, but not in such a short time.
"We didn't put the provision in there," he said, "anticipating that within weeks there would be two intentional acts of vandalism."
Larry Hardham, president of the Cape Hatteras Anglers Club, a group that supports beach driving, said ORV users are just as puzzled about the vandalism.
The Anglers Club has posted warnings on its Web site to alert beach drivers about the penalties for disturbing a closure, he said, but visitors are often unaware of the closures.
"I think it's people who are not aware of the repercussions of their actions," he said. "Obviously, I can't speak for them, but I would guess they're frustrated and mad."
He cautioned that with the high stakes involved in the issue, anything is possible.
"Let's not assume that beach drivers did the vandalism as no one knows who did the vandalism," he wrote in a later e-mail. "Beach drivers stand to lose access by these acts of vandalism, but those trying to end beach driving could further their cause."
A $1,000 reward has been offered by the United Four Wheel Drive Associations for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the vandals for each incident.
Catherine Kozak, (252) 441-1711, cate.kozak@pilotonline.com
Posted to: News North Carolina
By Catherine Kozak
The Virginian-Pilot
© May 20, 2008
For the second time in one week, a bird closure in Cape Hatteras National Seashore was vandalized, but this time it was in an area that had been accessible only by pedestrians.
Twenty fence posts were discovered broken at an American oystercatcher closure on the oceanside about four-fifths of a mile north of Buxton, National Park Service Outer Banks Group spokeswoman Cyndy Holda said Monday. Five signs were pulled up and three closure signs were taken.
Under terms of a legal agreement, the closure was automatically expanded by 50 meters, or 164 feet, to the south. Off-road vehicles have not used the narrow area for years, but the expansion now excludes people from accessing the beach.
Bare footprints came from the beach, over the dune and toward the fence line along N.C. 12, said David Carter, Hatteras Island district ranger. The prints had entered the closure, but the nest was not disturbed.
More than 1,300 feet of fencing was damaged on the west side of the dune and about 274 feet total on the north and south sides of the open beach.
Carter said he believed the vandalism happened around high tide early Friday because the water had washed over some of the prints.
There are no suspects for either act of vandalism, he said.
"When something happens in the dark of night, with nobody around," Carter said, "you can't catch them."
In vandalism at a least tern closure discovered on May 10 at South Beach in Buxton, 12 posts had been knocked down, but no one appeared to have entered the buffer zone. That closure was also automatically expanded by 50 meters.
A consent decree signed on April 30 settled a lawsuit brought in October by the Defenders of Wildlife and the National Audubon Society against the National Park Service. The Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance and Dare and Hyde counties later joined the suit, and they agreed to the settlement.
Geoffrey Gisler, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, which represents the environmental groups, said they were expecting violations, but not in such a short time.
"We didn't put the provision in there," he said, "anticipating that within weeks there would be two intentional acts of vandalism."
Larry Hardham, president of the Cape Hatteras Anglers Club, a group that supports beach driving, said ORV users are just as puzzled about the vandalism.
The Anglers Club has posted warnings on its Web site to alert beach drivers about the penalties for disturbing a closure, he said, but visitors are often unaware of the closures.
"I think it's people who are not aware of the repercussions of their actions," he said. "Obviously, I can't speak for them, but I would guess they're frustrated and mad."
He cautioned that with the high stakes involved in the issue, anything is possible.
"Let's not assume that beach drivers did the vandalism as no one knows who did the vandalism," he wrote in a later e-mail. "Beach drivers stand to lose access by these acts of vandalism, but those trying to end beach driving could further their cause."
A $1,000 reward has been offered by the United Four Wheel Drive Associations for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the vandals for each incident.
Catherine Kozak, (252) 441-1711, cate.kozak@pilotonline.com