From James
RE: Bill HR 718
I'm writing in regards to the sensitive issues which both residents & visitors of Cape Hatteras National Seashore face. Overzealous environmental groups such as: Audubon Society, Defenders Of Wildlife, & Southern Environmental Law are threatening our family values & our right of "Freedom of Choice", "Freedom of Economic Prosperity", & our "Pursuit of Happiness" guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. This is a very complicated issue with a plethora of misinformation hiding the real facts of the situation. These groups that I've just mentioned, sued the National Park Service, which is part of the Federal government. Also, they paid an independent company to come down here & do a biased study of the area. This study called, "Vogelsong Study", is flawed & did not consider any of the myriad issues which affect shore birds here, such as wind & tide. Also, it's economic analysis left a lot to be desired. It stated that the Piping Plover population was down considerably over the last several years. This is also very misleading because according to U.S. Fish & Wildlife, the Piping Plover numbers were actually up: "Atlantic coast the Piping Plover numbers have increased from 790 pairs in 1986 to 1,386 pairs in 1999"(U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service). Also according to this document:
http://fresc.usgs.gov/products/ppl/ "Overall winter numbers were very high..." & "Breeding season numbers also appear higher than 2001 in general." As a result of the suit brought forth by environmental groups, the appointed Federal Judge, Terrance Boyle, who has violated "conflict of interest" laws 6 years in a row, voted in favor of the special interest groups & signed the "Consent Decree" which was very misleading. A lot of people were under the impression that the "Consent Decree" settled this lawsuit, however, it only complicated issues more, as it restricted & closed the most popular areas of the island during a time of the year when we receive visitors from all over the country. Furthermore, unless you live here, you're most likely not aware that the NPS has killed: 76 red fox, 33 grey fox, 234 raccoons, 103 opossums, 64 feral cats, 23 nutria, 1 muskrat, 1 river otter, 1 mink, and 1 dog. The park service reported the dog as feral but it was obvious to the person who was going to put it down that it was not feral, but domesticated. It had been wearing a collar, housebroken, and social. Killing other animals, in order to preserve another species, is counter productive to any conservation efforts.
This has had a very negative effect on our seasonal economy, which relies on tourism as our main source of income. Many local businesses lost money due to cancellations, which resulted from angry visitors who couldn't access their favorite areas of the beach. To me, this goes way beyond beach access. This is rural gentrification. Our jobs here all revolve around the beach. If they restrict beach activities, this will effect our jobs, because people come here to enjoy the beach. If they can't go on the beach, they aren't going to want to rent a house for a week, or eat in our restaurants or shop in our stores. If we can't work & support ourselves, then we can't live here. This is all leading into privatization. These special interest groups want to privatize Cape Hatteras, which has always been open to the public. They're funded by big corporations like Toyota, who recently gave Audubon $20 million. These groups are hiding behind environmental "green" issues, which are popular right now & they're using these issues to confuse people & to legally shut down our island. This undermines the fundamental freedoms that our country is based on. Please keep in mind that this is a bi-partisan issue that effects everyone that lives here, as well as our visitors. Cape Hatteras generates a lot of tax revenue for North Carolina, & our leaders should be aware of these issues as they will have undoubtably have a negative effect on our state in this time of growing economic hardships. I urge you to please support legislation now, regarding this issue with Congressman Walter Jones & Senator Burr. The bill introduced by them is: H.R. 718. Timely action on the part of our elected officials could restore balance to our community & save us from further economic hardship in the coming season. Thank you for all your efforts on our behalf.
Sincerely,
James C. Balfe
That bit on Boyle is something I dug up
-Ry
