can the dunes be treated/prosecuted like this? (2024)

Date Posted: 8/27/2024 6:56 PM

maybe not the prosecution, but the enforcement of staying off the dunes
i feel it would certainly help to save the fragile barriers that hold our island together

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6...

Date Posted: 8/28/2024 7:59 AM

Date Posted: 8/28/2024 10:58 AM

"For Outer Bankers, the science could shatter a way of life based on tourism. “These dunes created the economy,” Couch says. “The bad part is that they tampered with Mother Nature’s engineering. These beaches were never meant to be static. This is the most dynamic geological process on the planet. It can, and it does, change overnight.” The eroding situation seems to have been exacerbated by the well-intended dune project. After World War II, as storms continued to pound the islands, Outer Bankers renewed their interest in coastal development. Dunes were fortified, or bulldozed and rebuilt."

Click to follow link...

Date Posted: 8/28/2024 11:10 AM

Date Posted: 8/28/2024 12:47 PM

www.outerbanksvacations.com/vacation-rentals#q=*%3A*

Date Posted: 8/28/2024 12:50 PM

Date Posted: 8/28/2024 6:01 PM

Click to follow link...

maybe not the prosecution, but the enforcement of staying off the dunes
i feel it would certainly help to save the fragile barriers that hold our island together

My parents took us to Cherry Grove Beach, SC as kids and pre teens and we always saw signs and warning of fines if anyone climbed around the dunes and/or picked sea oats. We always rented an ocean front cottage and our parents ....with five of us kids....always made sure we didn't get near the dunes out in front of the cottage to play. That rule was ingrained in my head and I find it odd that the OBX does not post signs like that. I mean, I have never seen one where we have ventured, but I'm guessing that they do not exist. I was very surprised and I never disrupt dunes and never ever pick any sea grasses unless they have broken off and are at the shore's edge.

Do theses warning signs exist there?

Date Posted: 8/28/2024 6:45 PM

Date Posted: 8/28/2024 8:02 PM

I can't remember if it was Heron Cove or maybe the Yachtsman in Nags Head had signs that said do not walk on the dunes.

I'm glad that there are a few of them. I just think that they should be there at all points. Sure...idiots won't follow the rules but I'm thinking maybe the park rangers could spend more time on dune climbing vs. someone catching flounder.

Two points: save people from dunes killing them and save the dunes. Duh!!!!! Forget the fish.

Date Posted: 8/29/2024 5:07 AM

Date Posted: 8/29/2024 11:08 AM

Date Posted: 8/29/2024 12:23 PM

It's interesting that instead of leaning into education/signage, the NPS chose closure and loss of access. Too bad.

As I recall there were other ponies in that race. Audubon, SELC, Defenders of Wildlife, etc. Intervenors one and all. That was a fight right up to REGNEG.

Date Posted: 8/29/2024 1:19 PM

Click to follow link... under the Need to Know tab.
Just after the part about "Have no more than two axles and have tires that are listed or approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation as described here"

Date Posted: 8/29/2024 3:02 PM

If they read the rules on the Seashore site when they purchased their ORV Permit:
"Vehicles are only permitted on designated ORV routes. The ORV map illustrating designated ORV routes and access points can be found here"

Click to follow link... under the Need to Know tab.
Just after the part about "Have no more than two axles and have tires that are listed or approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation as described here"

I don't think the ORV permit came about until February of 2012.

Date Posted: 8/29/2024 4:55 PM

Date Posted: 8/29/2024 5:46 PM

The lack of signage to protect the dunes is the reason for the park closures and the entire permit process. to begin with.
It all started in 2006 when a man named Vasili Matev drive a rented Hummer up on the dunes and got it stuck. The park rangers came out saw he had deviated far off the beach into dunes and wrote him a ticket for it.
His lawyers defense was that there were no rules for driving on the beach and the trial judge Terrence Boyle asked NPS what the rules were and they had rules but they were not readily posted.
He found him not guilty and said the NPS was not managing the park correctly and forced the park to shut off access.

Him and later the guy who ran over a bunch of bird nests with eggs and hatchlings, which is why we see closures during nesting season

Date Posted: 8/29/2024 5:59 PM

Date Posted: 8/29/2024 6:30 PM

The lack of signage to protect the dunes is the reason for the park closures and the entire permit process. to begin with.
It all started in 2006 when a man named Vasili Matev drive a rented Hummer up on the dunes and got it stuck. The park rangers came out saw he had deviated far off the beach into dunes and wrote him a ticket for it.
His lawyers defense was that there were no rules for driving on the beach and the trial judge Terrence Boyle asked NPS what the rules were and they had rules but they were not readily posted.
He found him not guilty and said the NPS was not managing the park correctly and forced the park to shut off access.

And, (not so) interestingly, Vasile Matei was represented by an SELC attorney in (Federal/Boyle's) court. Many believe he was a plant in a setup to initiate the whole "sue and settle" program that resulted in REG NEG.