Food Bank benefits but look who is (not) helping.

Saw a brief peice in the Coastland Times telling about a fund raising event for the Food Bank of the Albemarle. The 2008 Dine Out to Help event takes place on June 10th. Local restaurants across the Albemarle region will donate 10% of their income to the support the Food Bank's efforts to fight hunger in the region. The fight gets harder as food prices soar. Across the county food banks are facing increases in users and decreases in food stocks. Agencies like our local Food for Thought program are seeing costs rise and supplies sink as they leverage food bank resources to provide weekend meals to school age kids in the county.
OK there's the plug. Go eat out at one of these restaurants on the 10th.

Arby's

Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar

Bluewater Culinary Services

Carolina Seafood Buffet

Great American Grill at the Hilton Garden Inn

Jolly Roger Restaurant

KFC of the Outer Banks

Kelly's Outer Banks Restaurant & Tavern

Kill Devil Grill

Mako Mike's Restaurant

McDonald's Restaurant, Kill Devil Hills

McDonald's Restaurant, Kitty Hawk

McDonald's Restaurant, Manteo

Outer Banks Port O' Call Restaurant

Penguin Isle Soundside Grill & Bar

Peppercorns Restaurant and Lounge

Sam & Omie's Restaurant

Taco Bell

The Left Bank at the Sanderling Inn

The Lifesaving Station at the Sanderling Inn

The Pit Surf Shop & Boardrider Grill

Nice list, it contains a lot of the usual suspects but what struck me was the lack of local chains. I have written a bit about the role of locally owned businesses in supporting local charties and building local wealth. This simple example really brought it home. Notice who is not on the list, the big chains like Applebys, Hooters and that Aussie wannabe place at the Mall that started the trend. Yes the big burger chains are there but these are all locally owned and operated franchises. The McDonalds folks are out of Elizabeth City and have owned the place since it opened. There are lots of locally owned eateries that aren't on the list but the absence of the chains is just striking. When you look at the regional list you see the same trend.
Yes the chains do support some local projects but they just don't have the same commitment to the full spectrum of local needs. The Food Bank is an important one.
I plan to eat out on June 10th and now I know where I won't be eating. The hard part will be picking just one restaurant for the list of great local spots. Hope I see you there.
Ciao.

Is Fair really Fair? CT says no - but of course - they're wrong.

Thursday's Coastland Times editorial focuses on the proposed tax rates of some local towns. Duck up, Southern Shore down and KDH up. Different responses to economic times that have seen land transfer tax revenues cut in half in the last 2 years. In Duck's case the increase will pay for new projects and an ambitious goal for the town's savings account. The paper doesn't comment on the planned rates but rather focuses on the possible impact on the shared tax revenue each jurisdiction receives. The editorial closes with this comment:

The budget game gets very sticky, and final decisions become more difficult, when the full extent of the town tax cuts are considered in view of a shared revenue system that actually penalizes tax cuts.

It seems the CT doesn't think the current system of distributing shared tax revenues is fair. There are different formulas for each shared source but there is one consistent element within the plans; the County and towns share a lot of money and most of it is distributed based on each jurisdictions share of all the property taxes levied in the County. If Kitty Hawk levies 10% of the taxes then it gets 10% of the money. Its not quite that simple but the principal of fairness embodied in this formula is the same across the board.
The CT's comment implies that towns somehow have a right to a particular portion of the revenue, that each town government should be treated equally. The principal behind the current formula doesn't treat governments fairly, it treats individual taxpayers fairly. Each dollar in property tax paid by a taxpayer in a Dare town is matched by the same amount of shared revenue. For example in 2007 each tax dollar was matched by about forty cents in occupancy tax. If you paid $200 to Nags Head they got $80 if you paid it to Southern Shores they got the same amount. If a government raises taxes then everybody's share gets smaller and yes if Southern Shores cuts taxes then every taxpayer gets a little bigger share. Treating taxpayers fairly eliminates the need to figure out who is doing government right, if in fact such a concept even exists. Southern Shores says they are frugal. I say they ought to spend money on beach access, like KDH and Nags Head. Who is right? In fact each government chooses its own path as directed by its voters. Presumably each one is right or maybe both are wrong. In the end the is no correct standard for local government expenditure that we can use to share revenue. The current formula solves the problem, it treats all governments the same and focuses on tax payers.
There are two other formulas that get suggested for distributing revenue, population and point of origin. In fact the state combines these two methods when it distributes sales tax to counties. About half the money the state distributes is shared each way. Of course Dare County does a lot better on the point of origin share. Population formulas short change the county in general becuase so much of our sales tax revenue comes from our guests (tourists not piping whatevers). As this blog has argued before the population formula makes sense only when all the shared revenue comes from people benefiting but this clearly is not the case in Dare County. Permanent residents pay a minority of all the property and sales taxes in the county. There is no equity in forgetting non-resident property owners when we hand out tax support. Those owners pay property taxes too.
Likewise census population formulas don't recognize the actual population numbers a jurisdiction serves. Nags Head serves over 40,000 residents on a summer weekend. Maybe we should use that peak population to distribute taxes. Who would that penalize? Well it would penalize those areas that don't promote rental homes and businesses (like TTtWLMGtTB[see note]). In fact it probably would more closely reflect what a point of origin formula would provide.
A Point of Origin formula sends the tax dollars back to jurisdiction that generated them. Here Nags Head and Duck are the big winners. These towns have low population but large rental cottage economies. These towns alone account for nearly half the occupancy tax collected in the county, but should they get that money right back? Probably not. First of all it is not politically popular since large voting blocks don't necessarily get large money blocks. Further it hurts areas that may need help developing economic resources that don't have the necessary revenues to start the job. Think Tyrell or Hyde County. This is why the State mixes both formulas population and point of origin when it shares state sales tax.
What these two formulas share is a govenment centric view. They overlay the formula on town boundaries and of course since the towns are different each formula has winners and losers. The current formula, in effect, ignores those boundaries and treats taxpayers equally no matter where they live. Each tax dollar paid gets the same benefit.
The Coastland Times may think this penalizes local governments but are local governments really what matters? I suggest that what matters is the people who pay the taxes. Lets not penalize them to feed the inflated egos (or dreams) of the towns and their so called leaders.
Ciao
Note;TTtWLMGtTB= The Town that Won't Let Me Go to the Beach = Southern Shores that has zero public beach accesses. Zero. see this post

Memorial Day 2008

Photo by jcolman

On this Memorial Day I find myself contrasting the tragedy of 4079 American men and women killed in the Iraq conflict and the hope and hope and inspiration that can be found in their sacrifice. CNN has a list of all the Iraq war casualites, name, a photo, age, hometown and the circustances of their death. Each entry represents a son or daughter, perhaps a sibling or cousin who didn't come home. They volunteered to help protect our country and paid with their lives. This not about the war but about the service and sacrifice of those who served in our armed forces. Take a moment today to remember them and their families.
Fly the flag, go to a service or just spend a moment thinking about how your life would changed if you lost someone close to you at age 25.
This message contrasts so sharply with the other story of the day, the success of NASA in landing a probe on Mars. Man working to explore beyond our planet can only remind us of how much we have in common here on earth. Likewise the tragedies in China and Myanmar wrench us, the touch our hearts because we have known and seen the same tragedies in our areas, Hurricanes do the same damage in Rodanthe and Rangoon. We share the pain of the parents who lost children to the earthquake. It is impossible to make sense of loss like that. Just as it is impossible to escape the pain of losing in child in war.
Perhaps somday the world will come to its senses, we will remember our shared loss and join together to bring peace and justice around the world. Perhaps we will spend more time comforting each other and less time arguing. When the pain we have in common becomes more important than the things that divide us the world will begin to move forward.

Take time today to honor all of those who have served this country, think about their families and friends, thank them for their sacifcie. Then say a brief prayer for a time when we will no longer need that sacrifice and the energies and efforts can be used to ease the rest of the pain we see in the world today.
Have a great Memorial Day, eat a burger, hug a child, take a walk, think about how fortunate you are, think about what you will do to make the world a better place.

OB Sentinel EMC says Rules what Rules

You are driving down the your street, the speed limit is 35 mph. You are driving 35 mph. You get stopped by a guy from Raleigh for not driving safely. The guy from Raleigh gets paid because he gets people to send him money to promote safe driving. You go to traffic court and the judge says OK you were driving the speed limit I recommend not guilty. You go to Superior Court and judge says, I set the speed limit but now I don't think the speed limit really promotes safety - "Your drivers license is revoked."
Ok lets see if this sounds familiar. Somebody makes some rules. People start to play by the rules. An environmental group with no apparent standing sues after the rules have been set. After lots of lawyers get involved the rules seem to change and the permit gets denied. That seems to be what is happening to Wings over Waves, a controversial residential development on Hatteras Island. The developers were issued a permit by a state agency employing state trained and certified experts They reviewed a permit application and granted a permit. After a lengthy political battle the site plan was approved by the Dare County Board of Commissioners. OK, let me review. The mean, nasty developers have now convinced all the applicable state and local government agencies the control their fate, that their plan complies with all the applicable rules.
Let me digress for a minute. I believe that both the state and county governments develop rules fairly carefully, the rules balance what they see as the key public interests. The staffs and elected officials of these governments are caring, honest and generally pretty intelligent people. They try their best to do what they think is right and MOST OF THE TIME THEY GET IT RIGHT.
OK the permits are issued and development is about to begin. The developers have jumped through every hoop, met every request and paid their fees on time. By the way, it doesn't really matter to me but they probably have invested or borrowed some money. They either have interest to pay or have deffered interest income. As the clock ticks they lose money. It is a risky business and they knew that going in. They know they have to comply with the rules and they think they have done that, BUT...
Lets let the Outer Banks Sentinel pick up the story.

"The North Carolina Coastal Federation (NCCF), a non-profit conservation group, challenged the permit, arguing that DWQ violated state law by issuing the permit under conditions that would allow stormwater pollution and would harm the designated shellfishing uses of Pamlico Sound and Britt Creek.

State law requires protection of designated shellfishing waters from stormwater run-off that can carry bacteriological pollutants, like fecal coliform, and pose a threat to human health.

Administrative Law Judge Melissa Owens Lassiter heard the case and recommended that the Environmental Management Commission (EMC) uphold the permit.

But Peterson said that an EMC majority decided the state did not adequately address the issues raised in the case."

OK just so we have this right, let me recap. People apply for a permit, they meet the permit requirements as determined by the people whose job it is to issue the permit. They get the rest of their approvals. They want to start. An outside group sues to challenge their permit. A judge rules that the permit was issued properly yet the group that sets the rules doesn't uphold the decision of the person hired and trained to their standards to enforce rules despite the fact that the independent judge appointed to review the case said the permit wss issued properly.
The chairman of the Environmental Management Commision stated:that "DWQ didn't adequately defend the effectiveness of rules in protecting water quality," . Take a minute to reread that statement " The rules didn't do the job". That is what Peterson said. The state didn't make the case that the rules were effective.
I can accept a decision that finds some error in issuing a permit, bad or incomplete data, a rule that is misinterpreted, even a rule that trumps another rule (think Endangered Species Act) but not a rule that didn't do its job. If the Supreme Court says it is unconstitutional OK but when the EMC, a state agency decides the state's rules are not adequate to meet the state's interests then something is rotten in the State of Dare(mark)(or NC your choice).
I probably missed so key component. I don't think development projects should be designed to allow fecal contamination of shellfish waters, you don't either. But when we set standards and those standards are met then issue the permit and go back and change the rules for the next guy. The fact of the matter is that development at the margin - the new development - is not the big problem. The big impact is caused by old development that doesn't meet any standards and won't for a long time. The other big impact, especicially in water quality is state roads that collect pollution and discharge it when it rains. The people who make the rules also make the biggest problems.
Somehow I don't take much solice in the closing comments in the Sentinel piece:

Jan DeBlieu, NCCF coastkeeper, said the EMC decision validates the contention that current stormwater rules do not sufficiently protect water quality.

Revised stormwater rules are scheduled to go into effect Aug. 1, but legislation to annul the new rules is likely to come before the General Assembly before then.

Again lets restate that, the Jan says the by not approving a permit that apparently was legitimately issued, the EMC proved their governments rules don't do what they say they do. But the new rules that might do what the state thinks the old rules were supposed to do, may be overturned by the guys that made the old rules and have to approve the new rules. OK, somebody tell me what the guys in Waves are supposed to do? What rules should they comply with? What standards should they meet? Who should they ask for approval? The EMC doesn't issue permits, they make rules. The Coastal Federation doesn't issue permits, they solicit money and file suits. The state Division of Water Quality makes the rules that the EMC says don't work. The legislature sits back and creates the whole damn mess of rules, agencies and courts.
The people who invested in Wings over Waves took a risk, they probably lost. What message does that send to the next guy. What should they expect. It will take reinvestment to reduce pollution for older development, it will take reinvestment to maintain our lives here on the barrier island. If people can't invest and get a return then we won't improve. If people don't invest then we don't replace the failing with the better, we don't fix the existing problems. If people don't invest then values drop and we don't fix what fails, we allow problems to get bigger and worse.
Enough, I don't know if the rules that Wings over Waves complied with were appropriate. I don't know if they prevented pollution of shellfish waters. I don't know if they promoted traffic safety I do know that they were the rules as the people hired to enforce them understood them. I do know that they convinced both the issuing agency and a judge that they met the rules. I do know that if you don't have rules that people can understand and meet then they don't respect any rules, if people can't count on government to do what it says then they don't bother with government. I do know that without rules we don't have community and without community we don't have a chance in .... well you figure it out.
Sorry for taking so long. This article struck a nerve. I have been dragged in a situation close to me where rules were passed, investments made, and now somebody wants to change what the rules mean. NOT FAIR and really NOT SMART for the future of our communities.
Thanks for listening
Ciao

All Dare High Schools in top 5%

Via the N&O I learned that Newsweek has ranked the top Public High Schools in America
All three Dare County High Schools are on the list. The list includes the top 5% of the high schools in the country. Dare schools fell as follows. (rank - school):

• 1131 First Flight
• 1315 Manteo
• 1320 Cape Hatteras Secondary

If you think I understand how they did it well your wrong. Here is how Newsweek explains it:

Public schools are ranked according to a ratio devised by Jay Mathews: the number of Advanced Placement, Intl. Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2007 divided by the number of graduating seniors. All of the schools on the list have an index of at least 1.000; they are in the top 5 percent of public schools measured this way.

Of the 53 schools from NC that were on the list CHS was had the lowest score and Manteo was just above them. FFHS scored a few rungs higher. Greensboro (Guilford County), Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Raleigh (Wake County) schools dominated the top of the NC list. Interestingly if you look at the percentage of seniors who actually passed an AP test the local schools move up to the middle of the list (34th and 36th in the state for Manteo and FFHS)
Not sure how valid the measure is but I am sure the the Dare Board of Education will be promoting these numbers. Just remember you read it here first.
Ciao

Bridge by Johnnie Baum

BRIDGE

The old bridge isn't quite as strong, as it used to be.
Weakened by the tides and storms, in ways we cannot see.
And the time has come and gone, for this span to go.
But people just cannot agree, sometimes much to their woe.
Many thousands travel over, for just a little while.
And when they hear about it, they'll just nod and smile.
But to some this is a lifeline, and of them you don't hear.
'Cause they don't have the numbers, that politicians fear.
They are the very ones, who need this bridge the most.
Who dwell upon the islands, off Carolina 's coast.
They have known a long time, this bridge has seen it's day.
Has served for many years, a most well traveled way.
But time has come a'calling, and these people know.
The sooner it's made new, the sooner we can grow.
All of the elements are there, we just need to agree.
If it don't happen soon, we might be history.
The only way to travel, by boat or by air.
I guess that those who need it, are the only ones who care.

Johnnie Baum

Build the Bridge videao

It is not great secret that I think the replacement of the Bonner Bridge is biggest issue facing Dare County. I have posted the logo on this blog to remind readers that the problem has not gone away. This video was created by a group of First Flight High School students in a civics class, assisted by a FFHS senior for his senior project. It is very YouTube, a big edgy but very effective. This is the new political arena and this is a great example how it can be used. If you want the full power click through and watch the video in full screen mode.



The video was shown at todays Dare Board of Commissioners meeting. The BOC was impresed both with the video and the students who live north of the bridge who had such a good understanding of the problem.
Ciao

VA Pilot - Anonymous Charity.

In todays NC Section the Virginian Pilot follows up on the story of a woman burned in a terrible fire Her courage and determination is a wonderful example of the power of the human spirit. What struck me about the article though was not just her courage but her support structure:

"Cowell spent a year in the Shriners Hospitals for Children in Cincinnati, later spending months at Albemarle Hospital, where she was finally able to see her family. All of her expenses, including her treatments and medicine, have been covered by the Shriners, she said.
They would also later help Cowell with her scoliosis.
Today, she makes an effort to spread the word about all the good the Shriners do; she often speaks to schools and clubs for the Elizabeth City Shrine Club.
'I'll go anywhere to talk about them,' she said.
'Without them,' she added. 'I wouldn't have made it.'"

When I think of the Shriners I think of the funny guys in the St. Patricks Day Parade and the stereotypical drunken conventioneer. with a fez and a buzz. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I am not a shriner or a Mason. I know some and the are probably some folks I know who are members that I am not aware of. They don't wear their affiliation on their sleeve. In fact they practice a motto that the best charity is anonymous charity. I have enormous respect for that.
Not much more to say about this except thanks to any Shriners who read this blog, Thanks for caring and for doing something purposeful about human suffering. You make me laugh and you make me cry.
Ciao

N&O Edwards to endorse Obama??

The Under the Dome blog reports John Edwards may be about to endorse Barack Obama for the Democratic nominatin\on. The Huffington Post broke the story and the Dome confirms:

"The Obama campaign has announced a 'major national endorsement' for a rally tonight at 7pm in Michigan, and the rumor mill is swirling that it is none other than Sen. John Edwards."

Could be the knock out punch. What does Edwwards get in return?? Be sure it won't be anything tthat benefits the state he served as a Senator for six years (he said bitterly).
Ciao

ORV The Part Derb knew was coming - The Stoopid People

NPS now reports that vandals pulled up a set of signs marking the closure area in the Southbeach area. The NPS range got our of HIS SUV and checked this damage.

"During the investigation, two sets of footprints were found along the edge of the fence line that extended from the dunes to the waters edge. No footprints or tire tracks were observed entering the closed area which was established to protect a least tern colony; no birds appeared to have been disturbed during the act of vandalism. As prescribed in the court ordered Consent Decree, this closure violation resulted in a mandatory expansion of the closure area by 50 meters to the west."

This was so predictable that the E groups even planned for it. They included "punishments" for the public if the stoopid people played their stoopid games, which everyone knew they would. This is purely vindictive. As you read above no footprints, zero, nada, none were found inside the closure area so the birds or the place where the birds might want to be was never violated. Never the less we lose another 50 meters (170 ft give or take a metric mile) of beach. Imagine the outcry if this expansion had the same effect as the bird nest that cut off access to the Point.
The only question now is how many more times will this happen before people realize how counter-productive it is, even harmful. Dumb. dumb, dumb. Kids can't be kids anymore. What's more it may have been (read probably was) people, young people, who are not from the area, don't surf or fish and to whom the expansion will cause exactly no pain. Ouch!!

Ciao

NYT - The Upside of Being Knocked Around - Barack Obama

Interesting Sunday reading in the New York Times making the case that the Clinton OBama primary battle has served the winner well (yes I said the winner, Hillary's emails have really slacked off).

"But there is a competing view that says that Mrs. Clinton, rather than being a spoiler, has in fact been an unwitting mentor to Mr. Obama, a teaching adversary who made him better. Could competing against Mrs. Clinton have improved Mr. Obama as a candidate in the same way that competing against Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the 1980s made Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan champions in the 1990s?"

I like the points that MARK LEIBOVICH makes. The experience of extended campaigning has made Barack Obama grow into a much tougher campaigner. The debate experience, the honing of message and just having to respond everyday to tough questions and challenges has to help.
Enjoy it
Cioa

Jefferson Quotes

I wanted a pithy quote for my post yesterday. Here are some from Thomas Jefferson, whose home was Monticello. Ol' TJ was a pretty smart guy:

Every generation needs a new revolution.

When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred.

History, in general, only informs us of what bad government is.

An injured friend is the bitterest of foes.

An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a vestry.

Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.

He who knows best knows how little he knows.

Errors of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.

I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.

Information is the currency of democracy.


It behooves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others: or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own.

So confident am I in the intentions, as well as wisdom, of the government, that I shall always be satisfied that what is not done, either cannot, or ought not to be done.


Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.

Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.


When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.

Ciao

ORV Derb won but Monty still wants to fight.

He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
I was afraid that my post about moving on from the access settlement might not sit well with some. Monticello at Outer Banks Republic has drafted a manifesto pointing out, rightly, the flaws of the new approach that I proposed. Much of what he says has merit. There are a lot of people who have been coming to HI and Orcacoke and Oregon Inlet to fish and surf and windsurf and kite surf and do all the things that people do best when they have unfettered access to the beach. Monty is right the modern day surf fisherman carries a lot of gear, the SUV makes it possible (and TW's loves it). The modern day sportsman of any discipline has carries more gear and more optional equipment than even ten years ago. He is right in all those things.
Monty is right that the spirit the Hatteras Island community has demonstrated through this fight and continues to demonstrate is an inspiration. Monty is right that singling out the Cadillac Escalade for my SUV example was a cheap and inaccurate shot, intended to get under his skin (at least I accomplished that).
I agree with Monte when he writes that:

the lack of any credible science to prove ORV's cause declines in bird populations, this entire court decision is nothing more than---bullshit.

The only place we disagree is that none of this matters. We can not go back to the old ways and the sooner we figure out the new ways the better off we will be. People may not want to hear it but there is NO GOING BACK. You are already looking at the de-facto plan coming from the neg reg process. The E(nvironmental) groups won't accept anything less and they have shown they are more than ready to go to court to fight. If the new rules allow access much beyond the consent decree they will file a challenge under the Endangered Species Act, Judge Boyle will hear the case and THEY WILL WIN! Go read their briefs and go read the NPS and intervenor briefs. There is little room for argument. Anything that impacts an endangered species can be stopped. They already have all the science they need in form of the USGS study for the NPS, the people who will be being sued.
Monty disparages my ideas of more access areas and some form of limited licensed vehicular access. I am not surprised. Monty has pointed out some valid limits to this strategy, so what is the next strategy? Lets start planning the Hula Hoop Hall of Fame or maybe organize a major canasta tournament. Some other draw to bring people down. Maybe we need to build a bunch of bowling alleys or some kind of new Internet Virtual Fishing Centers or whatever. The point is not that the new rules are unjust, the point is the new rules will ruin us unless we change.
The mantra of the successful organization in the 21st century is "Adapt or Die". We are not exempt from that rule. Either we work to choose our future or we have our future imposed on us.
There is no support for the plight of Hatteras Island businesses west of the Alligator River. Go read the comments on K. Kozak's article yesterday. Yes the comments are laughably uninformed and tragically insensitive but the represent how much of the nation views this battle. There is not wellspring of support that is suddenly going to rise up and remove the limits. In fact the opposite is exactly true. Audubon, DoW and the SELC will raise more money in California through there win than all the motels on Hatteras Island will take in this summer.
I may not have the right model for the new economy, but there is one and we need to start talking about it. Monty, you get one more post to cry about not not driving your Rav4 with your 40 rods and case of Reisling to Cape Point. Then you have to join me in the real world and help figure this one out.

---

There is one element of the future that I think Monty sees quite accurately:

I think these birdwatchers will be exempted from the very rules they propose because someone will need to study and catalog the birds as the new rules are enacted; i.e., their access into restricted areas will continue.

The Coastal Federation currently leads "expeditions" Cape Lookout National Seashore. The unpopulated barrier island off the coast near Beaufort. Expect the same type of "educational experience" to start happening in the restricted areas around the CHNS. I understand that you the public can get to Cape Lookout so the situations are not exactly parallel but its close enough to
Expect Audubon or NCCF or the Outer Banks bird club start leading educational expeditions very soon. I don't know the personalities involved and from I gather I am glad I don't. There appear to be some very self-serving and pompous people planning profiting from recent developments.

Ciao

ORV So Derb Carter won, whats next

I thought the opening of Katherine Kozak's front page article in the Va. Pilot really captured the ORV situation well:

"Sometime before or on Thursday morning, a shorebird called a least tern laid a single egg in Cape Hatteras National Seashore. A National Park Service ranger spotted it at the end of Ramp 45 to Cape Point, a corner of the Outer Banks well known for surf fishing.

Buffers were quickly installed around the nest, making the road behind the dunes inaccessible to off-road-vehicle traffic. Even though much of Cape Point technically remains open, there is no way to get to it anymore."

The article details how everyone is playing their role perfectly. The business community is complaining about the environmental groups and the economic impact of the closures. The environmental groups are pointing to the flexible nature of the plan, while the park service is saying what I alwys said they would say: "the consent decree buffers are larger and non-discretionary,"; read "the judge made me do it". Everything is normal and everyone is saying exactly what you would expect and they are all focusing on the wrong thing.
It is time to start thinking about what happens next. It is safe to say that the current situation is probably the best we will see for some time in terms of unregulated ORV access. We can bemoan our condition or we can start thinking about how to adapt to it.
It strikes me that there are two reasons that ORV access is so important on Hatteras Island. First the geography makes it unrealistic to walk to the Point or Hatteras Inlet. The NPS simply owns too much land between us and the fish. Secondly, there is little or no public access parking on all of Hatteras Island. The Visitors Bureau lists 3 sites, I know there are more, but not many more. In the northern villages people can walk to the beach via private or semi public accesses but down south it is harder. Everything has been built on the assumption that people will drive to the beach. Ocraocoke operates on the same principal. There is more beach parking in one access in Nags Head or KDH than on all of Ocracoke. That is part of the appeal. Drive to your spot and set up camp, its convenient and its comfortable and its over.
We need a new model for accessing the beach and the fish on Hatteras Island. We can talk all we want we aren't getting the old model back.
One part of the answer is a quick investment in public access parking on NPS property. The County can help fund it. The County must help fund it, it won't get done otherwise. Make it as easy to get to the beach in Buxton as it is in Nags Head. and not just at the Lighthouse. Start scattering accesses from Salvo south. I am not an expert on access on Hatteras Island. Somebody let me know if I am missing something. If we can't drive on the beach then let us drive to the beach and park.
Beach access is one thing but access to the environmentally sensitive fishing hot spots requires a different strategy. Lets think about the interests of the various parties. The environmentalists want to protect birds from interference and they want to study the birds as well. The Park Service wants to comply with the law, meet the mission of recreation and conservation. They both want money to accomplish their goals. The visitors and businesses want to people to be able to get to the fishing grounds, people who are bringing with them the one thing everyone wants, MONEY. What this suggests is a system that transports people to the Point in a respobsible fashion, acceptable to both the E. groups and the NPS. The days of parking your Escalade in the surf and getting beer and bait from the built-in cooler are over but fishing on the Cape need not be.
When I moved to Nags Head 30 years ago, I met several people who got paid to drive fisherman up and down the beach and help them catch fish. They were called fishing guides. They knew the beach and they knew the fish. The advent of the SUV, the curtailing of beach driving (in 1977 you could still drive on the beach all year round) and the lack of fish have combined to reduce demand for guides. There are still a few around but the breed is dying.
In the post consent decree world, a fishing guide or at least a licensed NPS franchisee might be the vehicle that gets people to the fish. If we can't all be trusted with vehicles on the beach, then let the NPS tell us who is responsible and what they have to promise to be allowed to drive past nesting shore birds. There is no one right model. This could be a single 4 wheel drive or it could be a jitney service taking people to an established camp at the Point that has sanitary facilities, supplies and supervision. Needless to say the franchisees would PAY for the privilege but that money could be dedciated to species protection and habitat development. There might even be a way that the public could qualify for access, think duck blinds in Pea Island Refuge. Sound far fetched, it may be but this is how we need to be thinking, we don't need to be thinking that somehow "Doc"Brown is going to come along in his Delorian and transport us back to 1950. It is just not apt to happen. We need a new model for access and we need to figure it out pretty fast. We have a chance to use Negotiated Rulemaking to implement a new economic model but only if we figure it out first.
Spend the rest of the night complaining about the disaster that this season may become, it is very real and very important. When you wake up tomorrow start thinking about how we can adapt to our new limits. People still want to go to the beach, they still want to catch fish. We have beach and we have fish. How can we get them together, how can we comply with the new limits and how can we make enough money to live while we do it.
That is the problem. We will either find our own answer or have one imposed on us. The choice is up to us. Derb Carter won ... the first round, we all can win ... if we want to.
Ciao
Note: I wrote this whole article without pointing out that despite the lack of public access on Hatteras Island they still have more than the Town That Won't Let Me Go to the Beach; .....almost.