Derb Carter's new suit

I got a call from a source in Judge Boil's office yesterday. I can now confirm that the Southern Environmental Law Center has filed a suit in federal court seeking enforcement of the Endangered Species Act. The suit names the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Southern Shores Volunteer Fire Dept. among others aksing the court to immediately end all efforts to put out the fire in the Pososin Lakes Wild Life Refuge. I contacted Derb Carter, lead counsel for the suit, and asked him to explain the basis for the legal action

"The Endangered Species Act is supposed to protect endangered species, fire is a natural process that restores habitat and renews the environment, it helps species flourish. By trying to put out the fire in the Pocosin Lakes Reserve the FWS is endangering species. We think they should stop and just let the fire burn baby burn" Carter explained. " We believe the ESA supports us in this action since it does not name fire as a specific threat to species, As a further benefit this fire, if allowed to burn, may force people to leave the natural environment. The ESA is very specific that people endanger species not fire."

The suit specifically asks the court to restrain "all efforts to extinguish the conflagration now burning in Hyde and Tyrell County". The suit sites the FWS and the SSVFD as the prime agents trying to stop the fire. A spokesmen for the FWS responded "Makes sense to us" and explained that FWS had immediately stopped all activities in eastern North Carolina on learning of the suit (except the ongoing effort to block the replacement of the Bonner Bridge).
When contacted for comment SS Mayor Don Smith explained that since the Fire Chief's new salary was more than the Mayor's new salary we should ask the Fire Chief, noting he was too busy sulking about his betrayal by SS Town Council on the budget issue.
We contacted Defenders of Wildlife for additional comment but they explained they were too busy helping refugees from the fire find homes. A spokesman explained that "200 Black Bear and red wolves have been relocated to FEMA trailers in Swan Quarter and Pungo." DoW plans a countersuit in an attempt to require FWS to build a dome to cover the entire refuge to protect against future lightening strikes. "This tragedy could have been averted by FWS but they refuse to take reasonable steps to protect mother nature from herself."
Judge Boil has schedule a "listening" for next Monday at which time he will tell everyone what he thinks they should do!

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In a related story, the National Park Service NPS is investigating the death of a ghost crab last night on Coquina Beach, just south of the Nags Head Nuclear Waste Storage area (why else would they need all those sandbags) Visitors reported the crab was found at dawn in the middle of a tire track just east of the dune line. NPS has restricted all access to the area, which was already more isolated than the alien landing site in Roswell NM. The only vehicles permitted to drive on this beach at the time of the crab's death were NPS vehicles.

Superintendent Mike Murray has called for "a roundup of all the usual suspects" and explained that his actions were "mandated by Derb Carter who is much smarter than Don Smith and the enitre NPS put together".
The North Carolina Coastal Federation issued a statement saying "The death of this innocent creature is the result of the unbridled access to our pristine beaches and could have been avoided if everyone would just leave and move to Durham. We are trying to save you but you aren't cooperating. "

The crab's family had not returned numerous phone calls at press time.
Ciao

Dissin' Denny (Hal that is)

Correcting factual errors in the local papers has long been a staple of this blog. I get angry when I see things reported incorrectly especially about local government issues. You can imagine my state when I opened yesterday's Coastland Times (CT) to find that a Hal "Benny" had addressed the Southern Shores Town Council (AKA: TTTwLMGttB or "The Town That won't Let Me Go to the Beach" for short) on the matter of their budget. Mr. "Benny" seemed particularly well informed for an apparent newcomer to SS politics. He cited interesting statistics about road maintenance and traditional town values. He, wisely in my view, urged the council to postpone their self-serving swindle (see Note below) until after the next municipal election. This wise and well informed individual clearly spoke from the heart and possibly from some experience, but how could that be since no one named Benny had ever served on council. Surely the CT reporter would recognize the previous Mayor and properly report his (or her) name....NOT.
I was not at the meeting but its strikes me that there is an individual who has all the attributes of I have ascribed to the speaker, former Southern Shores Mayor Hal DENNY . In the CT's defense Tony Sylvester, the usual reporter for SS, was not in the house and clearly the cub reporter had no idea who anyone was or why it mattered to get names right. You might think that an editor would recognize the mistake and ask the reporter for a correction but that didn't happen either. The meeting took place a week before the story ran, there was enough time to get it right,but they didn't.
Hal Denny is a friend of mine. He was Mayor when I was Mayor. We meet with some other XMayors for lunch from time to time. He deserves to be properly recognized in the only paper that covers these meetings. When people go to meetings and take time to be involved they deserve to have their names reported correctly. When people buy the paper and read the articles they deserve to know who spoke so they can judge the experience and motives of the speaker. The CT blew it on this one.
Enough of this. It is starting to sound a bit self serving (acknowledge ex-mayors). I hope the CT notes the error and corrects it in the future. Hal deserves to get credit for his wisdom. The council (and the community) would be wise to listen.
Ciao

Note: "self-serving swindle" The council is considering voting to pay itself starting in July. I think elected boards should be compensated. I was when I served. I also think changes in compensation should become effective after the next election cycle to give the voters a chance to express their views on the pay. We always did that in Nags Head while I was on the board. The action by the Nags Head board in Jan of '07 voting themselves an immediate raise was wrong. Any action by the Southern Shores Council to vote immediate compensation would not serve the interests of the town and its citizens.

Va. Pilot: No Turning Back on Norfolk Beaches - Science - RedOrbit

I guess I'm feeling a little nostalgic this morning. I plan to go over to the Board of Elections this afternoon and submit the paperwork to close protectnagshead.org, the referendum committee Bob Oakes and I formed to work towards passage of the Nags Head beach nourishment bond. I was in that kind of reflective mood when this editorial from the Va. Pilot popped up in my Google News alerts. The Pilot was pointing out that Norfolk's East Beach was recently recognized by the American Shore and Beach Association as one of this year's outstanding nourished beaches in the country. The piece relates the brief history of beach maintenance in Norfolk following wide spread flooding and erosion caused by Hurricane Isabel the goes on to talk about the impact of the projects.

"The replenishment served as the backdrop for East Beach, the village that lit the fuse for the Ocean View gold rush. The millions of dollars spent from East Ocean View to Willoughby Spit to save the beaches has been multiplied a hundred fold.

The winds and tides from the 2003 storm devoured half of the seven miles of Chesapeake Bay shoreline, breached homes in Willoughby and destroyed practically every plank walkway from the street to the water. Fixing them cost about $9 million, more than Norfolk had expended on beach maintenance in the previous 20 years of benign indifference.

Intent on applying that lesson, the city has followed up by creating a robust erosion-fighting plan backed by an annual $2 million appropriation through 2012. That's a prudent acknowledgment that too much wealth is now at risk to engage in wishful thinking about Congress putting up money for Ocean View sand piles.

That's the good news. The downside is that there's no turning back; once public beach nourishment begins, it's impossible to stop. That should spur debate over who should pay for the beach and whether the public gets enough access to it."

The Pilot goes on to suggest that Norfolk voters might not be fond of continuing this spending plan for the remaining miles of Norfolk's Chesapeake Bay coastline, suggesting that voters in Va. might follow our local lead and reject plans to spend tax money on beaches no matter how successful the projects are. Interestingly, the issue doesn't seem to be dollars per se but access. Norfolk has reduced the already limited access to the nourished beaches and this has drawn outcries from the beach access advocates. The article closes by suggesting the the Norfolk Council is on the right track, searching for more ways to open up the beaches to residents and visitors and I can only agree. The public should have access to beaches they are helping to restore, it is very important element in any beach restoration project.
Interestingly this issue never surfaced in our Nags Head debates. In large part that is due to the excellent access program the Town has implemented over the last 30 years. You no longer need to park in the sand to go to the beach in Nags Head.
Perhaps its time to follow Norfolk's lead and bring access back up as an issue. Our local beaches generate an enormous amount of money for local governments, yet like Norfolk, some parts of "our" beaches aren't equally accessible to everyone. In particular, the beaches in Southern Shores have no public access. The very same town that protested so much when it share of the the beach generated revenue was threatened. Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk offer an enormous amount of public access to the oceanfront. This has been done with public money and without any restrictions. Duck has limited public access but not much.
Its time we start tying access to tourist generated money to providing at least some public beach access. If you don't provide access you don't get the money. I'll bet there are some great undiscovered surf breaks in "The Town That Won't let Me go to the Beach" (TTTWlMGttB). Sammy the surf dog probably doesn't even know about them because he can't get to the beach even if he was allowed on the beach (TTTWlMGttB doesn't allow dogs on the beach from May through Sept. but that's a different issue). Sorry Sammy, maybe that nice lady at Brew-Thru will give an extra treat instead. Bill might find some new spots to windsurf and Monticello might be able to suggest a new brew to go with the uptown beach scenery of TTTWlMGttB. We all would benefit from access to all our beaches. Lets hope we get some soon. If we start tying money from beaches together with access to beaches we'll see a lot more.
Well, its time to close this piece, I want to go over and sit in the sand before I trek to Manteo. The ocean was gorgeous yesterday over at Loggerhead access. It should be just as nice today. Maybe I'll try a new spot, someplace different, just so long as its not in Southern Shores, the town where YOU can't go to the beach either.