Say what you will about President Richard Nixon, but he was a visionary president when it came to protecting the environment. Too bad the National Park Service didn't follow through on an important requirement President Nixon signed 35 years ago to regulate appropriate beachfront driving on North Carolina's Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
If the park service had developed a responsible plan for allowing driving along the ocean strand while also protecting the habitat of sea turtles and shore birds, the Cape Hatteras Seashore might not now be witnessing a distressing decline in at least six species of shorebirds.
According to the Southern Environmental Law Center, Defenders of Wildlife and Audubon North Carolina, the 2007 population of shorebirds has plummeted. In 1999, the groups said, there were 103 Gill-billed Terns; today there are none on the Hatteras seashore. In 1999 there were 440 Common Terns; 19 today. There were 306 Black Skimmers; two remain. There were 306 Least Terns; 196 remain. There were 41 American Oystercatchers; 20 to 22 remain. Since 1996, the Piping Plover population at the seashore dropped from 14 to six.
The precipitous declines are especially troubling because conservationists believe proper regulations would have made a big difference. They have filed a lawsuit against the National Park Service urging U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle to throw out an interim park service plan that doesn't adequately protect either sea turtles or birds on the Outer Banks.
"No one wants to deny the rights of fishermen and families to enjoy beaches along the National Seashore, but our beaches are turning into highways," said Derb Carter, an attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center
Judge Boyle in July found that the park service had failed to provide adequate regulation and that driving on the banks was illegal. The park service has been developing permanent regulations, but the conservation groups want the court to reject even an interim plan regulating driving on 64 miles of the seashore. "If we don't take action now, nesting shorebirds and sea turtles could be at risk of disappearing from the seashore entirely as their habitat becomes more and more unsuitable," said Jason Rylander, a lawyer with Defenders of Wildlife.
The late U.S. Rep. Richardson Preyer of Greensboro once observed that North Carolinians were in danger of loving the coastline to death. Without better planning and careful regulation, we stand to lose the natural resources that made our shoreline such an appealing and vibrant place.
