My father-in-law is an avid, avid, avid, avid angler. We get a call a few weeks ago from a very excited man. "Watch TV tonight," he says, "I almost started a riot!" Believe him? we do.
Some background: The man loves to fish at Cape Hatteras: 2-4 trips/year from Maryland and now he has moved to the Outer Banks so that he can be there for the bluefish runs and be the first to catch those big red drum when NC DMF says that it is OK. The piping plovers are out there too. The NPS ropes off their nests and, what with beach erosion and whatnot, the nests and the 4 wheel drives have been getting closer and closer. Well, the day of the call the areas overlapped and the NPS told the guys with the 14 foot rods to pack their gear into their SUVs and find another fishing spot -- for the time being.
Back to the story: its the end of the world as big Jim knows it.
From the website of my old local TV station (Tim's too), we get a less biased version than my father-in law's: Endangered Birds Close Beaches.
Behind barricades blocking off a stretch of seashore, there is one pair of piping plover and three chicks on each closed off beach. Park rangers will guard them 24 hours a day until they can fly.
Here is the issue. The piping plover is high priority on the endangered species list. Since they are near the shore were cars are permitted, the park service is worried. Doll says,
"These chicks move really quick and really fast. And they are only about this tall. They blend in with the sand and they are hard to see."
But people like John Cough, who is a business owner and President of the Outer Banks Preservation Association in Buxton, feel they have fewer rights than the birds.
"This is a prolific example of how the Endangered Species Act has gone wrong."
[...]
According to the National Audubon Society, since 1989 the number of piping plover birds decreased from 15 pairs to 2 pairs.
Business owners say this is the worst time to close the beaches in the middle of tourist season.
The beaches will reopen once the chicks can fly.
That won't be too much longer, will it? Jim? You there?
Further reading: FWS critical habitat designation (2001); the resulting lawsuit filed by CHAPA (2003); what Audubon thinks about the recent closure; and here is the discussion at pierandsurf.com. A sample from "Dyhard":
I think that there are not enough cats in the NPS area. This is a wonderful place where cats could enjoy the good climate and live a full and useful lives with a variety of easily caught food. A pair of foxes maybe. We should be concerned about our furry friends too. Think of all the cats that will be exterminated (extinct) in the next few days! I'LL TELL YOU WHAT IS ENDANGERED!! PLACES FOR FAMILIES!! and COMMON SENSE!!! Our founding fathers would be enraged!!! [editor: can you hear the Lee Greenwood song in the background?]