Where Did The Plovers go?

Much ado is made about the Piping Plover (charadrius melodus) and its nesting here at Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area. For years this bird has been the "poster child" of those who would wish us removed from these beaches.

For years we have pointed to the fact that not once since the plover first showed up at CHNSRA (1960) has there ever been an incident causing injury or death as a result of ORV use on the Seashore. We have long pointed out that 100% of plover mortality that has occurred here is a result of either storms or predation.

Plover like low lying areas to breed in, especially areas that have easy access to ephemeral ponds. They prefer mud flats, wash outs, and what are called "fans and blow outs" which is structure created by heavy seas that pound the beaches and carve out these "flats" as the ocean recedes.

Hatteras Island is a low sandbar that averages about 8' above mean seal level. And living here I am constantly reminded of this fact as several times a year we are "awash". I lost track of how many times my yard went under in the last half year or so and not by inches boys and girls, but by feet. The last good flood came with so much water it deposited a four foot section of 8x10 about five feet off the ground in the branches of the juniper tree beside my deck.

Now imagine what would happen if you were standing on the beach when such an event was under way.

This sort of flooding does not require a major storm, just a decent blow from one direction for a few days will push water up to the toe of the dunes and in many cases, right over them or through them which is wont to happen. Generally speaking, this can be a rather harrowing time to be on the beach.

Here's a picture taken by a friend, Don Bowers, of what I'm talking about. This happened last year.

Now imagine if you were a golf ball sized bird nesting on the beach.

Here's a picture of Cape Point. On the Western side, you'll notice how the beach curves to the left (west) and continues on. This is the area of the Seashore we refer to as "The Hook" and is where the plovers like to nest and are encouraged to do so.

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=35.22015,-75.518818&spn=0.050205,0.13175&t=f&z=14&ecpose=35.2201495,-75.51881822,8574.41,8.198,0,0

Two weeks ago, NPS was all in a tizzy because they found a nest with an egg and were all excited about it being the earliest recorded plover nest in the Seashores history. Last week, they found another and in both cases the nests were enclosed with cages to keep predators from disturbing them.

Enter Mother Nature aka the Hand of God and see what happens.

We had a blow. Nothing special, just a few days of 20+ knot winds which kicked up a good ground swell. This combined with our bi-monthly "spring" tide, the highest tides of the month, and you have beach over-wash. In this case, the Hook was and still is almost entirely under water and waves were crashing  all the way up and into the interior dunes. It will happen again tonight as the wind turns back SW and stays that way for the next few days, assuming the forecast is correct.

So where did the plovers go? Actually, where did the NPS plover monitors go? With nests on the ground NPS is supposed to be monitoring them from sun up to sundown. Well, the monitors were nowhere to be seen yesterday. Did the birds fly north to the more productive breeding grounds there?

Does this lend credence to the USGS thought that encouraging plovers to nest here might be doing them more harm than good? I'm still trying to find out which biologist stated during the negotiated rule-making process that the best approach would be to shoo them away rather than let them nest in this historically poor nesting area.

While I don't wish the birds any harm and so hope they did in fact fly north, I do cringe at the thought of loosing access to Cape Point, the ruination of many vacations and the repeat of the economic catastrophe that has accompanied the loss of this important area for the last two years.

Remember, plovers are doing quite well elsewhere and last year hit the 1889 breeding pair mark which puts them ever closer to being eligible for delisting under the Endangered Species Act. (2000 pair is the magic number)

Tomorrows "weekly resource management report" should be an interesting read and will eventually be available at: http://www.islandfreepress.org/

You can also have this and the weekly access report sent directly to your inbox by writing to Cyndy Holda at cyndy_holda.nps.gov
(underscore between cyndy_holda)

For my friends in Hampton, Va. I hope you'll attend the DEIS meeting tonight and speak your mind. Remember, NPS is required to address your questions about the DEIS so keep them germain and remember this has nothing to do with DOW, Audubon or SELC or the consent decree. Ask them questions they MUST respond to.

Well I'm shortly off to the beach to watch for "the watchers", find an invisible pair of American Oystercatchers  and hopefully put some more fish in the cooler. Dinner last night, fresh bluefish and puppy drum, wet my appetite for another.

Tight Lines,

Wheat

Questions

On the eve of the first NPS meeting about the DEIS I cant sleep. I bet I'm not the only one. With a deadline of midnight, May 11th to submit public comment on this travesty of a "plan", a lot of candles will be burning these next few nights.

This whole episode is so terribly frustrating. The reality is, that neither NPS nor the assorted environmental groups can show that we, as users of the Seashore, cause harm to either the environment or wildlife. In fact, the record shows quite the opposite. All of this is conveniently ignored. But then so has been the relevant law and procedural requirement. Even the USGS protocols, the basis for which these plans are based, fail to follow regulations in terms of peer review requirements. Just how many laws and regulations will be violated in order to seize the Seashore from the American People? How many more lost jobs and ruined vacations will come to pass?

Its blowing tonight. Already water is crashing up onto the beaches at higher than normal levels and will continue to rise with each day until the full moon arrives. How many nests will be destroyed over the next few days? Not destroyed by the hand of Man, but by the sea? Its said that a cubic yard of seawater weighs 1784 pounds. Put it in motion and it becomes easy to understand how dynamic this beach system is and why wildlife struggles to survive here. If they could show it was our fault, I'd sit down and shut up.

The NPS preferred management alternative (ALT F) makes the current court approved consent decree look like child's play. Does it bother anyone but me that during the recent status conference with the judge Derb Carter said he was confident that "we" will have a final rule in place by the end of the year? We?

As I sit here, I hear the wind and the surf and every seven seconds or so the lighthouse beacon traces its path through my window.  What was for me a monument welcoming me "home" every time I came to visit years ago now stands as a testament of oppression and yet the light somehow inspires me to fight this fight. Hopefully that light will reach the minds of many and inspire them to tell the NPS hell no!

I think I'll watch the light for a bit and enjoy the wind.

Irene Nolan has another great post about public comment...:

http://islandfreepress.org/PivotBlog/


For a good read on how environmental groups are making their money, here is a good read:

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/breaking-activist-green-lawyers-billing-u-s-millions-in-fraudulent-attorney-fees/

Y'All have a great evening.

Tight Lines,

Wheat

I Swear I'm Going To Asplode!

I was out on the beach today with friends and as usual, the conversation turned to access issues. I should say something like "extended family", really, as Ive known these folks for years and fished with them many times. We're not related in any way except for the collective deep love of the seashore and the good times we've had. One of the neatest part of the "experience" that is this Seashore is that over time you meet folks from all over who you see time after time on the beach. My friends today were from Ohio, Delaware, Maryland, New Hampshire, Virginia, New Jersey and of course N.C.

Somebody made mention of the animal slaughter that's going on here annually in the name of protecting other wildlife.

And then I came home and read this incredulous story. As you read this, think of the annual slaughter, think of the thousands of geese that USFWS killed a couple years back, think of the current ghost crab hunt that NPS has quietly started....ALL KILLING WILDLIFE!

"Wildlife managers enlist skunks, badgers to control pelican population at SE Idaho reservoir

Idaho
By Associated Press
12:32 p.m. EDT, April 21, 2010

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho is enlisting badgers and skunks in its fight against pelicans that are eating too many sport fish and hurting sensitive populations of Yellowstone cutthroat trout.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game managers released three badgers and two skunks last week on Gull Island in southeastern Idaho's Blackfoot Reservoir.

Last year, federal officials rejected Idaho's plan to shoot birds and oil eggs to halve the nesting pelican population in southern and eastern Idaho by 2013.

Federal officials dubbed that an "eradication program."


So now, state managers are releasing predators, even though they opted against doing so in 2009 because they feared that badgers and skunks could hurt colonies of other nesting birds."


This is utterly astounding! What the hell are they doing here that "federal officials rejected" elsewhere?

See how insane this stuff gets?

The link to the article is:

http://www.courant.com/news/nation-world/sns-ap-us-pelican-vs-trout,0,115453.story

Tight Lines,

Wheat

DEIS, Extension Please!

Its getting to be crunch time for public comment about the NPS Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and the NPS preferred alternative. (Alt F) With only a couple of weeks to go, many of us are shifting through this mountain of charts and rules, dates, and proposed closures.

One thing is certain. If NPS implements their plan as is, the American people are going to be screwed right out of this place while still paying to maintain it. Especially hard hit will be the young families living on a tight budget and their children. Hatteras has always been a place where a family could get by without breaking the bank and still have an excellent time.

I've been in this fight for years and my computers have been too. Ive got gigabytes of studies on birds, turtles, erosion, drainage, closures, federal law, NPS management policy, Seashore history, etc at my fingertips and I still find the DEIS to be an overwhelming document. I cant imagine how intimidating it must be for someone unfamiliar with the issues.

In an attempt to deal with the complexity, the Coalition for Beach Access has released video of the workshops that were held and a copy of the informative handout that will make submitting a public comment alot easier. These can be found at:
http://www.preservebeachaccess.org/

Another thing that was done was to ask for an extension to the 60 (not long enough) day comment period so that we could have some chance at digesting this 810 page document and make intelligent and informed comment. NPS turned the CBA down, flat.

Last week, members of the community made a suicide run to DC to talk to NPS Director Jon Jarvis asking for the extension again. Also on Friday, a letter was sent to his office asking for same from  U.S.Senators Richard Burr and Kay Hagan as well as Walter Jones, Member of Congress. Hopefully, this will help.

I think everybody should write director Jarvis and ask for an extension. His e-mail address is: Jon_Jarvis@nps.gov  (please note that it reads Jon_Jarvis).

Tell him the document is overwhelming and you think the public needs more time.

In any case, please take the time to make an informed comment. Our comments are like votes to some degree. The more that say no, the more ammo we have down the road.

Tight Lines,

Wheat

I hate laundry. Its like watching grass grow and only slightly more fun than sanding drywall.  You can quote me on that.


Yesterday was a beautiful albeit exceptionally windy day where the oceans waters struggled between warm and cold; the seemingly endless struggle that we endure every spring and fall. All eyes continue to look at the Rutgers infra-red spectrometry reading of sea surface temperatures to get an idea of where the fish should be. This time of year we're waiting for the 65 degree water to bring the Drum and other fish. Primarily though, we wait for the Drum. Had a couple of nice hits but no Red Drum for me before my short pants clad body had to go get warm. It is, after all, extremely easy to become hypothermia in a 20+ knot wind.


While I was on the sand I met a fellow fisherman from Virginia. It was his first time on the Seashore and he brought his new wife with him. After talking about fishing for a bit he asked about all the stakes, closures and cetera. The more I told him, the more he asked and the more upset he became at whats happening to OUR Seashore. This guy was on the ball. he listened, contemplated and hit me again and again with one tough question after another. After I got home and thought about what a challenging conversation we had, it occurred to me that my answer to his educated and poignant questions, my answers had fallen into mostly three basic categories; " I don't know because it doesn't make sense", "there's no peer reviewed science to justify what these people are doing", or "they are ignoring or violating federal law."


Talk about ruining a guys day. But then a lot of folks vacations have been ruined by this mess. People work hard for a living and want to come here to relax which was the intent of Congress when this Recreational Seashore was established; only to be denied. I have friends, may as well be family, that travel from all over this nation and beyond to set foot on this extraordinary beach system. All of us are being denied access to a Seashore that we, the people of this nation,own and pay to operate. All so that we can kill hundreds of innocent animals in the name of protecting a few birds who are fairing worse in spite of these draconian closures that went into effect.

 Good job! Close a Seashore, destroy an economy, break the law, ignore sound scientific process, and watch the protected wildlife numbers fall. And in the process, deny the great people of this nation access to that which is theirs.


When tax day arrived on Thursday, It ticked me off to no extent that my tax dollars were being used to shut this place down and line the pockets of the people that have done this to all of us.


Some of you may think I'm crying over nothing. Wake up folks, this is happening all over this country, one lawsuit at a time. As things are going now, it wont be long before you cant go to Yellowstone, the lawsuits are already underway and or in the making. Look for yourself and be amazed.


Tight Lines,

Wheat

SAY WHAT?

Another thing that blows my mind about all this mess is the incredible math that NPS spews forth relative to visitation to the Seashore. I don't know where on Gods green earth these people get these numbers but they are outrageous, falsely inflated and obviously intended to deceive. Clearly NPS is trying to pull the wool over the public's eye by making it seem like the impact of a closed Seashore is negligible.
NPS claims that there were 2.4 million visitors to the Seashore last year. That's 6575.342 different people here every day of the year.
SAY WHAT?
So that explains why virtually every business that would normally be packed during the spring and summer had their receipts showing somewhere between 40 and 60% off compared to a pre-consent decree year. This also explains how the county went from being the number two donor county to the one with the highest unemployment rate in the state.
Last year, for the first time ever, I was routinely driving on an empty road as I travelled from Buxton to Avon, five miles up the road. Not at midnight folks, but mid day, in the summer. And this is arguably the busiest stretch of road on the Island.
Also thrown into that figure were an estimated 380 odd thousand bird watchers. Where were they? That's over a thousand bird enthusiasts here per day all year long. As much time as I spend on these beaches, I would have been tripping all over them just to fish.
Mr. Murray, these numbers are bogus. Please tell me where they all stayed, ate, bought their souvenirs or fishing tackle? It damn sure wasn't on this island or O'coke either.
Its time to stop closing beaches for invisible birds and inventing invisible people.

Tight Lines,

Wheat

Night Driving Ban

One of the things that really bugs me about all this closed beach nonsense is the Ban on night driving. Very soon anybody caught out on the beach in a vehicle after 10pm or before 6am is going to get a whopper of a ticket from NPS. The stated concept is that the ban will prevent an interaction with nesting turtles.

When a turtle leaves the sea to nest (or not) its referred to as a crawl. These crawls come in two flavors; one in which a nest is laid and the other, a false crawl, where the turtle comes onto the beach but returns to the water without nesting. Nobody knows why these false crawls occur but they do and are expected everywhere sea turtles nest.

Cape Hatteras happens to be on the extreme northern end of the turtle nesting range and consequently has relatively low nesting numbers compared with points further south. We usually end up with less than a hundred nests on the Seashores 70 odd miles of beach as compared to say Florida where nearly 50,000 nests are laid annually. And quite simply put, its the cooler climate and cooler water that account for this barrier of sorts. And that cooler water can often lead to death. My friend Kevin, an incredible conservationist and truly gifted fisherman just told me about an incident that occurred off of, I believe, South Carolina, where eighty some odd turtles were caught up in a cold water eddy off the coast and subsequently died of hypothermia. We've had quite a few turtles lost here for the same reason this year.

Back to the driving issue which is night driving.  I'm not going to get into a major discussion as I'd be sitting here all day. And besides, Two friends of mine who have worked with and studied these animals at this Seashore since 1978 (one of them anyway) have just put together an exhaustive study of turtle nesting, habits, locations, mortality etc. that spans well over 100 pages in length. Nobody knows more about the nesting that's occurred at the Seashore over the last 32 years than Larry Hardham, President of the Cape Hatteras Anglers Club and his cohort, Bob Davis. Their study should be published soon I'm told, and that's where you'll be able to go for the statistical analysis. And considering that Larry has tracked every nest and false crawl that's happened here since '78, Id say the man knows what hes talking about.

Basically, the enviro-lawyers and NPS are claiming that driving at night during nesting season will prevent nesting by disturbance, sand compaction, headlights (or lights in general), tire ruts, etc. And then there's those who get all up in arms claiming a turtle may, might, possibly, could be, run over by an ORV. Only problem is, nobody seems to have told the turtles that these are issues because they keep on coming. If you want to know more, have a gander at the Coalition for Beach Access' position statement where some of this stuff is clearly and scientifically refuted. Here's one passage:

"Nighttime driving during the nesting season does not equate to zero protection of turtle nests. The likelihood of an ORV / turtle encounter is remote in the first place. In the best of years, approximately 1 nest and 1 false crawl occur nightly during nesting season over the seventy miles of beach. This very low density of nightly turtle activity, combined with naturally lower ORV activity at night, makes ORV / turtle encounters highly unlikely."

And another thing. When these all knowing biologists look at various species they come up with these "target" numbers. Where they get them, I have no clue. And every time I've asked one of these folks as to the justification for the given target number I keep getting muddled response that basically works out to be something like " well, we just think that this is what the number should be". When it comes to turtles, one of these numbers is referred to as the "false crawl ratio."

So the powers that be have established what they consider a proper ratio of false crawls to nests for a given beach system. If, for example, a given beach has a disproportionately high number of false crawls as opposed to nests and it exceeds the target ratio, then they'll say something is wrong etc. Take a trip over to:
http://www.preservebeachaccess.org/ and you'll find Mr Hardham explaining that even with night driving and 24/7 beach access, (the way it should be) the false crawl ratio here at the Seashore is better than the standard set for an entirely undisturbed beach.

(I should note that almost 40% of all turtle nests at the seashore are lost to storms, predation, and NPS's refusal to move nests in high risk zones where annual, predictable beach formation occurs.)

Alot of folks don't understand what these beaches are like so I thought Id throw in a couple of pics to help understand including a wildlife interaction of my own.

The beach off Ramp 44 with Buxton in the background.

                                                                 A view of Cape Point

Interacting with wildlife. This is "Frostbite". So named because the cold took almost all if his "toes". he came to say hello every time I was on the beach, three years running.

Well folks, that's all for now.

Tight Lines,

Wheat