RV question 



No sooner had the ink dried on the pages of the 

 proposal than the park service was hit with a barrage 

 of criticism. 



The most vocal opposition came from an organiza- 

 tion known as the Outer Banks Preservation Associa- 

 tion (OBPA), headed by Donn Mitchell of Nags Head. 

 The OBPA has monitored federal actions on ORV use 

 within the seashore since 1975, after successfully 

 blocking the adoption of a proposal to close Pea 

 Island National Wildlife Refuge to ORV use. 



The alternative plan 



Members of the OBPA were so dissatisfied with the 

 park service's ORV management proposal that they 

 drafted their own alternative plan. Under the OBPA 

 plan, only 4'/2 miles of beach would be closed year- 

 round to ORV use. Another 26 miles would be closed 

 seasonally, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and 

 the remaining 43 miles would be left open year- 

 round. 



Among the OBPA's biggest criticisms of the park 

 service's draft plan was the lack of evidence sup- 

 porting the park's recommendations. "They have no 

 justification for their plan," asserts Mitchell. "The 

 only reason they give is pedestrian conflicts. 

 Nowhere do they cite environmental or ecological 

 damage." 



"How many people do you see sunning themselves 

 on the beach in November?" 



OBPA members question why the park service has 

 recommended year-round closure in many areas 

 »'hen the busiest season, the season when pedestrian 

 conflict is most likely to occur, is only during the 

 summer months. "How many people do you see sun- 

 ning themselves on the beach in November?" asks one 

 member rhetorically. "They aren't there. From Labor 

 % on there are no pedestrian conflicts," Mitchell 

 argues. 



The park service has also been severely criticized 

 for it's failure to take into account the economic im- 

 pact of increased ORV control under the draft plan. 

 Park representatives admit that this was a serious 

 oversight on their part. "Frankly," admits Pat 

 «ossland, chief of interpretation at the seashore, "it 

 "ever occurred to us." They have agreed, however, to 

 conduct a complete economic analysis before any 

 management plan is put into force. 



Currently Cape Hatteras is the only national 

 ^ashore which does not require a permit for ORV 

 According to Mitchell, that, among other things, 

 Wps to make the Outer Banks one of the most at- 

 iractive surf fishing spots in the East. 



Cape Point— damage from ORVs driven over 

 vegetated areas. (National Park Service photo) 



Both Mitchell and other surf fishermen contend 

 that increased restriction of ORV use will eliminate 

 many of the trips made by fishermen to the Outer 

 Banks, especially during the off-tourist season. 



"It's simply not worth it for someone to drive all 

 the way from New Jersey or Ohio to go surf fishing 

 and to be restricted to Cape Point and the south side 

 of Hatteras Village. They just won't come," Mitchell 

 explains. 



John Blizzard, manager of the Dare County Tourist 

 Bureau, Inc., is concerned about what this loss might 

 mean to the economy of the Outer Banks. "Surf 

 fishermen do not bring in a major percent of the 

 tourist dollar," Blizzard observes, "but they do bring 

 in an amount that is sufficient enough to be an im- 

 portant element to the tourist trade." 



The OBPA has gone so far as to estimate the 

 amount of money brought into the area's economy by 

 off-road vehicle users during 1977. Using National 

 Park Service traffic surveys and Dare County Tourist 

 Bureau estimates for average daily expenditures by 

 recreational visitors, it claims that more than $13 

 million was brought into the area by ORV users 

 alone. 



Many people view the figure skeptically, however. 

 For one thing John Blizzard admits that the $65 

 figure that the computation is based on is his "per- 

 sonal opinion" of what the typical surf fisherman 

 might spend in a day. "I don't think that there are 

 any realistic economic impact figures available," 



Damage to dune vegetation from pedestrian walk- 

 overs (Dare County Tourist Bureau photo/R. Couch) 



notes Blizzard. "Any figures that are used are 

 speculative only." 



Hank Boswell, executive vice president of the 

 Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce, agrees that the 

 figure is "not easily supported." He himself has 

 serious doubts about the economic effect of increased 

 ORV control. "I doubt that the [park service] proposal 

 will have any great economic impact," states Boswell. 

 "For one thing the visitors who use ORVs go 

 primarily to three areas and these areas are going to 

 be left open anyway under the National Park Service 

 proposal." 



Boswell also points out that increased control may 

 actually have a positive economic effect by drawing 

 those visitors to the seashore who now avoid it 

 because of its relatively liberal ORV policy. 



User groups react 



Criticism has also come from various user groups. 

 According to many surf fishermen, mobility is essen- 

 tial to the sport. They depend on four-wheel drive 

 vehicles to follow the fish as they migrate up and 

 down the shoreline, and to lug all their equipment 

 across the dunes and onto the beaches. In addition, 

 the fishermen argue that the best months for surf 

 fishing are during the fall and spring— months when 

 few pedestrians linger on the beaches. 



As a result many sports fishermen see the park 

 service's proposal to completely close portions of the 



beach as a direct threat to their use of the park, a use 

 they claim they have a right to under the philosophy 

 on which Cape Hatteras National Seashore was 

 founded. 



Even commercial fishermen, who use ORVs for 

 beach seining operations, have raised eyebrows over 

 the park service's draft plan. Although legislation 

 creating Cape Hatteras National Seashore clearly 

 protects the rights of local residents to earn a 

 livelihood by fishing from the park's beaches, many 

 commercial net fishermen have serious doubts about 

 what will happen to their rights in the future as more 

 and more restrictions are placed on ORV use in the 

 park and along the entire coast. 



"I just don't think the resource can support the ef- 

 fects of ORVs." 



Harris emphasizes that the park service is not try- 

 ing to eliminate any one user group from the park. 

 "We aren't restricting fishing, we're restricting the 

 use of ORVs." Harris explains that the park service is 

 attempting to come up with a management plan that 

 will allow for as much public access as possible, while 

 maintaining both the environmental and aesthetic in- 

 tegrity of the seashore. 



"You have to draw the line somewhere ... No mat- 

 ter where you draw that line, you're going to have 

 someone standing on the other side of it." 



One possible solution, he believes, is to provide ad- 

 ditional parking facilites. Under the park service's 

 draft plan five new roadside parking sites with 240 

 spaces would be constructed. The parking sites, 

 Harris contends, will make access by walking prac- 

 tical for both the surf fisherman and the sightseer. 



Park officials admit that coming up with a com- 

 pletely equitable management plan may not be possi- 

 ble. "You have to draw the line somewhere," observes 

 Crossland. "And no matter where you draw that line, 

 you're going to have someone standing on the other 

 side of it." 



Just who will be left standing on that other side 

 and when? 



Harris does not deny that the day will come when 

 ORVs are completely barred from the national 

 seashore. "I don't think the resource can support the 

 effects of ORVs," he asserts. "I remember when peo- 

 ple would walk to the beach to fish, where ORVs were 

 the exception rather than the rule . . . Today you have 

 hundreds of vehicles on the beach." 



When that day will be, Harris maintains, depends 

 upon the kind of plan that is developed now. He con- 

 cludes, "I think if we develop a good management 

 plan now, we can push the time into the future when 

 ORVs won't be allowed." 



