New OBX beach driving regulations begin

OUTER BANKS, N.C. (WAVY) - The Cape Hatteras Preservation Alliance has filed a lawsuit against the federal government to try and stop the planned restrictions on beach driving.

The increased restrictions on Off Road Vehicle (ORV) access to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore take effect Feb. 15.

Beach drivers will have to purchase either a $50 permit for week-long access or an annual pass for $120. The restrictions also limit access to some areas of the shoreline, particularly during the nesting periods of the island's wildlife. 

Only a handful of parks allow the use of ORVs.

"Out of 397 units, less than 15 allow it. Those that allow it are supposed to have a special regulation to manage it," Mike Murray, Superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, said.

Murray said Cape Hatteras National Seashore has operated without such a plan since 1970.

"So in effect, off road vehicle use has never been legally authorized here," Murray added.

Hatteras resident Bob Davis is against the plan.

"...this is the greatest example of bureaucratic sleaze that I have ever read," Davis said.

Davis, a retiree, came to the island in 1994 to enjoy the unrestricted vehicle access to the beach and thinks the federal government went fishing for a method to limit that access.

"What the park service has tried to do is to find a mandate by which they can regulate people on the beaches and change the beaches into wildlife sanctuaries," Davis added.

Geoff Gisler, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, countered, "The mandate is not from us, it's from congress..."

Gisler represents the environmental groups that insisted the National Park Service develop the ORV management plan.

Murray said, "The last four years we've had to operate under a court-approved consent decree to increase restriction of ORV use and increase protection of beach nesting wild life, such as shore birds..."

"...and under the consent decree we've seen significant gains in wildlife across the board," Gisler added.

But, resident Kevin Conner believes the new ORV management plan is unfair to the people who live there.

"...the human! That's the most threatened species on this island," Conner said. "It's an invasion of our rights as American citizens to access lands that we actually own."

Life-long Hatteras resident John Ochs took 10 On Your Side's Art Kohn to one of Hatteras Island's most impressive spots, Cape Point. While there they spotted a large flock of seagulls resting on the sand.

Ochs said, "This is sad. I feel like my freedoms have been outlawed, my liberty's been stolen and my pursuit of happiness comes in sad bags of the past."

Many Hatteras Island residents believe the government shouldn't regulate the land, as many claim to be descendants of the Croatoan Indians. The Croatoan Indians were granted land rights to parts of the area by English settlers in the 16th century.

"The park service would have a hard time in convincing me that there are no natives, per say, to Hatteras Island. Especially, with the fact that some people have been here 200 plus years, their families have at least," Conner said.

However, much of that land is now federal property.

"I recognize that before the park was created they were in private ownership, but for the last 70 years they've been, they belong to the entire country and the park is only regulating the part that is federal property," Gisler said.

Murray added the compromise is a necessary one.

"When there's conflict of visitor use of the areas, conservation's to be predominant," Murray explained.

The Cape Hatteras National Seashore stretches 67 miles and consists of more than 30,000 acres. Nine miles are open to ORVs year round. Thirteen miles will be open seasonally and 26 miles will be open to pedestrian traffic only.

Click here to view the lawsuit .