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dpca, noted!


As an example of the crammed 4x4 picture being non typical;

Here is a picture of a good kiting day at the tip of Cape Hatteras-

No cars.

Oh wait, here's a few!

Yup, its pretty crowded!

Here is another day looking back north towards the Cape.

Plenty of room for kiting, fishing, surfing, and it doesn't seem that anyone is looking to run me down with their tonka truck as I take the picture.

Just pointing out that every place may get swamped on a holiday weekend or a peak Saturday...but most of the time there is plenty of room for everybody. Okay, I'm done with this thread now. This topic will likely only deteriorate from here but it was nice to hear multiple sides to an interesting issue. I love Hatteras and hope it works out best for the recreational users down there.

Apologies then to Jake, did not mean to minimize your point. But there are some differences in OBX.
And truly sorry, for everybody, if the crowding at Hatteras has gotten much worse.
As it is, I have tried to go there mainly off peak for years, but really I never have seen the beach like that. Nor have I seen high speed reckless driving there. May happen though. But mostly I have seen it more like 5mph.

My point remains, that I think an outright ban is not right for the area.
People access the beaches in large numbers compared to other wilderness or sanctuary areas, so there should be accomodation.
A kiter on an ocean downwinder or "planet of the apes" run knows he is in for increased risk but to force that elevated risk on every beach user in a place developed and designated as a recreation area is unreasonable.

So, ethically, both as a public health issue, as a user/taxpayer rights issue, I think the ramps should stay open (most of the time), with limits to when and where on the beach you can drive from the ramps.

The irony remains that there is hardly a viable plover population on Hatteras no matter what is done (last count 6 pairs).
Just another tourist's opinion...

dpca10 wrote:You guys should be super careful about legislation protecting the plover. Sands beach in santa barbara has a large plover population and if you try and launch your kite there the granola freaks go ape shit. I had one guy try and grab my kite when I was self launching on a low tide day below the high tide line, screaming it was a private beach. After I told him that all property below the mean high tide line was public property he realy went nuts. I don't know what it is about this bird....but a dredded up hippie sitting in a beach chair protecting the 3/4 roped off beach is what you are looking at. FYI ....

Always good to know your enemy:

http://homepage.mac.com/cjbowdish/COPP/ ... bum59.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yup here it is. Thanks for the link.

Here is an excerpt from the Snowy plover docent training manual.

Question: I just want to play ball with my friends. Why do you want me to move?

Reply: Active recreation is discouraged near the roost site because of the sensitivity of the area. The action of a group of people running around near the roost and tossing a ball through the air is very stressful for the plovers. They are forced to spend a lot of energy in vigilance -- watching to make sure that those stomping feet and flying balls are not a direct threat to their safety -- and running or flying away when they do feel threatened. That time and energy is better spent feeding and resting, so that they may have many, healthy chicks during the breeding season.

gobigkahuna wrote:Here, to the south of Hatteras, the Richies have managed to get a "moratorium" on wind mills and wind generators. Yup, that's right, as oil prices soar and our dependence on it continues at a record pace, the Richies have put the single most successful form of alternative energy on "hold" because they are afraid that it will spoil that million dollar view from their mansion on stilts.

You must be kidding me? Wind energy is a joke and only the simplest of minds actually thinks it is a viable energy source...Our enemy is not the rich, it is the government and the neo-socialist enviro-wackos that drive up oil prices, drive up foods prices, and make our lives miserable with their enviro-fascist religion that they are constantly shoving down our throats.

Original message expired.

Interestingly, given the amount of greenie freaks who kite, it is their watermelon like comrades (green on the outside and red on the inside) who are the biggest threat to kiters. They are constantly waging war on us, they demand high priced gasoline, they force foreign dependence on oil, they subsidize ethanol production which increases pollution and food prices, they raise taxes to fund bullshit studies, massive bureaucracies, and cumbersome and intrusive laws that slowly erode our ability to enjoy our lives and our sport.

Save kiting - punch an environmentalist in the face.

typical treehugger responses here based on 100% emotion, 0% logic. you fail to see even the most obvious issue here. today the enviro-freaks want to ban driving on OBX because of these birds, tomorrow they will ban all beach access at your favorite spot for the same, or some other nonsensical reason. the enviro-freaks need to be stopped, minimally they should be ignored. they fail to understand that humans are also part of 'nature' and are entitled to enjoy it as much as the little furry animals are. And Darwin understood that if any little furry animals cannot survive within that context, well, adios! The enviro-freaks are only pathetically surpassed by our govt, which actually listens to these whack jobs. Concepts like: 'cars/kites make the birds behave a certain way, completely changing their lifestyles' are just so far out there as to be nothing but hysterical.

And all you treehuggers who support these freaks should beware: they will eventually not like something you're doing, so watch your back. Don't even get me started on the 'global warming' farce or it's relevance to this issue...history will prove Al Gore to be one of the great buffoons of our time, and all you embarassing sheep who buy into the emotional side and ignore scientific facts, well, you're all beyond hope anyway.

I cherish our beaches, forests, mountains, animals, etc, and would never intentionally harm any of it. But being asked to stay away from all of that because my presence might somehow harm it...sorry, not going to happen. the world would be a better place if enviromentalists were banned.

jkrug wrote:typical treehugger responses here based on 100% emotion, 0% logic. you fail to see even the most obvious issue here. today the enviro-freaks want to ban driving on OBX because of these birds, tomorrow they will ban all beach access at your favorite spot for the same, or some other nonsensical reason. the enviro-freaks need to be stopped, minimally they should be ignored. they fail to understand that humans are also part of 'nature' and are entitled to enjoy it as much as the little furry animals are. And Darwin understood that if any little furry animals cannot survive within that context, well, adios! The enviro-freaks are only pathetically surpassed by our govt, which actually listens to these whack jobs. Concepts like: 'cars/kites make the birds behave a certain way, completely changing their lifestyles' are just so far out there as to be nothing but hysterical.

And all you treehuggers who support these freaks should beware: they will eventually not like something you're doing, so watch your back. Don't even get me started on the 'global warming' farce or it's relevance to this issue...history will prove Al Gore to be one of the great buffoons of our time, and all you embarassing sheep who buy into the emotional side and ignore scientific facts, well, you're all beyond hope anyway.

I cherish our beaches, forests, mountains, animals, etc, and would never intentionally harm any of it. But being asked to stay away from all of that because my presence might somehow harm it...sorry, not going to happen. the world would be a better place if enviromentalists were banned.

Jeff, tell us how you really feel

jkrug wrote:I cherish our beaches, forests, mountains, animals, etc, and would never intentionally harm any of it. But being asked to stay away from all of that because my presence might somehow harm it...sorry, not going to happen. the world would be a better place if enviromentalists were banned.

Ditto. That is the other side of the enviro-freak coin that I am sick of. They have this automatic assumption that anyone who doesn't wear a ponytail, wear a Greenpeace sticker, refuse to bathe, and agree with them 100%, is therefore opposed to the environment.

Yes, there may be the occasional redneck who enjoys a 4x4 romp on the beach...so?...Let him, and when he gets out of control, arrest him...This should not rob us of the right to access remote beaches because some self-righteous pot-head in a tie-die peace symbol T-shirt gets a hard on.