From the Virginian-Pilot:
After 12 posts marking a bird closure were found knocked to the ground, the area closed to off-road vehicles on [South Beach in Cape Hatteras National Seashore, about 1.7 miles east of Ramp 49] has been expanded by 50 meters.
... An investigation found two sets of footprints along the edge of the fence line. Footprints or tire tracks were not seen within the closed area, and the least tern colony appeared undisturbed, the statement said.
The posts holding "area closed" signs were broken and several closure markers were pulled out at the shoreline.
Rumors that the source of the footprints is the "Ghost Captain (and ghost crew) of the Graveyard of the Atlantic" are currently being investigated by Velma, Daphne, Fred, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo. In a cruel, ironic twist, they've found it impossible to get the Mystery Machine near the scene of the crime due to the beach driving van.
Here is the rest of the story:
Under an agreement approved by a federal judge, the violation mandates the expansion of the closure. A second act in the same area would require a 100-meter expansion.
Most areas of Cape Point and South Beach are inaccessible to beach drivers [recreational anglers, -ed] and pedestrians after closures were established last Monday in preparation for shorebird nesting. Sections of beach were also closed at Bodie Island Spit near Oregon Inlet and South Ocracoke.
The agreement settled a lawsuit brought in October by the Defenders of Wildlife and the National Audubon Society against the park service. Dare and Hyde counties and the Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance later joined the suit and agreed to the settlement.
"I urge everyone to consider that future acts of intentional vandalism to resource protection areas will result in greater expansion of the buffers," Outer Banks Group Superintendent Mike Murray said in the statement. "These expansions are not discretionary under the consent decree."
So, some drunken shore angler decided to pull up the stakes taking the "how do you like your plovers?, I like 'em fried" bumper stickers to the next level. I don't think this is going to end well, for the birds or the people involved.
