Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

My husband and I have been visiting the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreation Area for more than a couple of dacades to fish and for down time. With the new ORV rules comming into effect this year I doubt we'll be back any time soon. I refuse to give the NPS any money to access the beach so that I may fish. On the other hand we can't afford a beach front McMansion rental either.

I don't know how this ruling is going to impact the locals but I hope they can survive. Wildlife has taken priority over people. This is going on every where.

A link to the Island Free Press editor's blog for more information, current and past.

http://islandfreepress.org/PivotBlog/

Once again, the enviro-moonbats have succeeded in saving the silver-crested sand fleas at the expense of responsible taxing paying citizens who would like to enjoy the beach as much as the sand fleas.

I wonder what the Conservative Dogs have to say about all this?.

http://angrywhitedude.com/2012/01/conservative-dogs/

I think we should start taxing all the critters that we spend our money protecting. If they don't pay we wipe them out.

Its a takeover, plain and simple.

Population increase, and, mobility is the cause.

While I grew-up in the suburbs of Chicago (60's-70's), now it wall-to-wall houses bast the IL border into WI. Ever take a drive to the Shenandoah (the mountains)? It's packed there too.

When I was young, it was a yearly trip to the beach. Now everybody wants to go every two weeks.

The worlds population has ever been increasing. Everybody wants to visit the best places.

Sorry, but this is the new normal.

We had similar rules on Long Island (specifically Fire Island), they were designed to protect the piping plover (a small, almost helpless bird), and protect the integrity of the dunes, which are a natural levy against the ocean.

The laws were enforced heavily on Fire Island (AKA the "Land of No" where you can get ticketed for eating ice cream on the boardwalks) and in a few years the dunes rebounded and the restrictions were loosened yet not unregulated.

Those who want to demand people e free to do as they please should consider the damage ATV's do to land.

Yes, you can tool around tearing up the land today, but, you know, people may want to see the place in a relatively natural state tomorrow. The Park Service is acting well within its mission of preserving our natural heritage for future generations.

No one just drives over the dunes in Hatteras. You can only get ORV beach access by designated ramps. Look at the maps. Storms cause more damage to the beaches than any ORV.

http://www.islandfreepress.org/2012Arch ... dAreas.pdf

OakRidgeStars wrote:Once again, the enviro-moonbats have succeeded in saving the silver-crested sand fleas at the expense of responsible taxing paying citizens who would like to enjoy the beach as much as the sand fleas.

I wonder what the Conservative Dogs have to say about all this?.

http://angrywhitedude.com/2012/01/conservative-dogs/

+1 on that.

Radiac wrote:No one just drives over the dunes in Hatteras. You can only get ORV beach access by designated ramps. Look at the maps. Storms cause more damage to the beaches than any ORV.

http://www.islandfreepress.org/2012Arch ... dAreas.pdf

Apparently that map is a projected one, says "alternative F".

The link to the map was provided at the end of the article so I suppose that "alternative F" or something close to it will be the final rule.

From today's Virgininy-Pilot

http://hamptonroads.com/2012/02/rates-s ... s-120-year

NPS published map.

http://ecnews.outer-banks.com/2012orvroutes.pdf

chuckjordan2 wrote:Population increase, and, mobility is the cause.

While I grew-up in the suburbs of Chicago (60's-70's), now it wall-to-wall houses bast the IL border into WI. Ever take a drive to the Shenandoah (the mountains)? It's packed there too.

When I was young, it was a yearly trip to the beach. Now everybody wants to go every two weeks.

The worlds population has ever been increasing. Everybody wants to visit the best places.

Sorry, but this is the new normal.

CHNSRA was originally set aside for use by people. The problem is that people won't necessarily be able to access it. It won't matter if you are in an ORV or if you are a pedestrian. Even year round open OVR and pedestrian areas are subject to closures of 1000 meters around a single plover nest for a large portion of time. And to tell you the truth I can't count the number of times I've seen pedestrians violate the "closed at all tides" areas. I have never once observed an ORV drive into these areas with the exception of park service rangers.

If, at some point in time, your favorite hunting spot is taken away or, god forbid, someone comes to confiscate your firearms I'm sure you'll be told.

"Sorry, this is the new norm."

These laws are NEVER about what they're about. Yes, a takeover.

A full length ducumentary called "America's Beach The People of Hatteras Island". It gives some history of the people that live there and what has been going on the last few years.

Please sign this petition to remove the final ORV rule and pass it on to your friends.

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-us- ... pen-access

Please ask your Representatives in Washington D.C. to support H.R. 4094.

http://islandfreepress.org/2012Archives ... ecree.html

We DO need to protect our national resources, but we need to do it in a rational way.
I have attended many of the Forest Service meetings to discuss future plans for the G. Washington and Jefferson National Forest trying to keep access open. Unfortunatly there are those that would close all of these areas.
With the budget cuts the easiest way to maintain these areas is to keep them off limits so no one has to patrol them.
Petition has been signed.

From Island Free Press-Editor's Blog by Irene Nolan

BULLETIN ON JONES BILL
Just as I was finishing this blog, Joshua Bowlen, legislative aide to U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., called to confirm that HR 4094 will get a hearing before the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands on Friday, April 27, at 9 a.m.
HR 4094, introduced by Jones in late February, is called The Preserving Access to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area Act and would return management of seashore resources to the Interim Protected Species Management Strategy and Environmental Assessment, issued by the Park Service on June 13, 2007.

In a media release, Jones said the bill would “restore reasonable pedestrian and motorized access” to the seashore.
Bowlen said the bill be discussed with several other federal land access issues.
The chairman of the committee, he said, is U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah.
Bowlen said a list of the witnesses that will be called to testify has not been finalized yet.
The hearing will be streamed live on the U.S. House of Representatives website, and Island Free Press will follow up with a more complete story next week.

Link to current Google Earth Beach Access Map. Or lack thereof.
Click on April 17, 2012

http://www.nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/g ... rthmap.htm

Wait 'til they get all the projected tolls in place here in VA. Then it's $6.00 to go through the tunnels, $6.00 more for the Chesapeake expressway and then the fee for accessing the beach. Isn't that gonna be fun???